The bite of mites can cause allergy to meat

Mites - a real scourge of US residents. Especially those who like outdoor recreation. Even if they do not carry the infection, then the process of removing the tick from the skin is laborious and painful. As it turned out, the mite Amblyomma americanum has another very unpleasant property - its bite can "award" you with an allergy ... to meat.

Ironically, it is the Texas mite that will for long deprive you of the joy of consuming red meat. In all the carbohydrate poses as galactose-alpha-1,3-galactose (so-called alpha-Gal). It can be found in the cell membrane of most mammals, which means that the meat of the remaining animals will be safe for the allergy sufferer - poultry and seafood can be safely consumed. Theoretically, anthropoid apes also do not have alpha-Gal, so that the meat of monkeys and even human meat can be eaten, but it's not worth doing in any case!

This is the reason why alpha-Gal is perceived by our body as an allergen - after a mite bite, the immune system begins an attack on a foreign agent whenever red meat enters the patient's body. As a result - itching, vomiting, redness of the skin, often diarrhea. In the worst of the outcomes, anaphylactic shock may even occur. Taking antihistamines can partially alleviate the consequences, but will not relieve the risk and discomfort finally.

This type of allergy, Mammalian Meat Allergy (MMA), most often occurs in the US, where the main habitat of Amblyomma americanum is located, which Americans themselves call the lone star mite. In addition to MMA, the tick is also a carrier of borreliosis, rickettsiosis, tularemia and erlichiosis. Saliva mite contains neurotoxins and, if ingested, can cause mite paresis.