Of the 11 cases documented since 2023 in the province, 8 patients had no recent travel history.
That rate far exceeds the estimated 450,000 US adults who have alpha-gal syndrome, a potentially deadly allergy to red meat and dairy products typically brought on by a tick bite.
As ticks expand into new geographic areas, taking steps to avoid tick bites is the best prevention strategy.
Patients being misled by a “chronic Lyme” diagnosis is the first wrong. Now the government has compounded it.
The plan includes funding for a pilot program aimed at controlling tick populations and finding better Lyme disease and alpha-gal syndrome treatments.
An estimated 450,000 Americans are affected by alpha-gal syndrome.
Although the new vaccine fell short of its primary goal, it showed ‘clinically meaningful’ results in a secondary analysis.
Though deadly anaphylaxis had been considered a theoretical outcome of the allergy, it had not yet been seen until this case.
A high percentage of respondents said they were aware of the tick-borne disease and spent time outdoors, but less than half said they took measures to prevent infection.
An investigation is under way into exactly where the patient contracted the infection.
