Ross Township woman diagnosed with alpha-gal syndrome after tick bite
A Ross Township woman was diagnosed with a tick-borne disease that's rare in southwestern Pennsylvania, but common in other parts of the country. Now, she wants to urge others to be more careful when outdoors.
Angela Lundy started feeling sick after she ate a bratwurst on Father's Day. Then a week later, she split a burger with her husband.
"I woke up with severe stomach pain like right along where my bra line is, and it lasted about three hours," Lundy said.
However, her doctor couldn't figure out what was wrong, and testing for gallstones came back negative.
"It wasn't until my girlfriend half-jokingly said to me, 'Well, maybe you have alpha-gal,'" Lundy said.
Everything started to click with Lundy, who remembered getting bitten by a tick behind her left knee in early June after working in her backyard garden.
"It was the itchiest bite I had ever had," Lundy said.
She learned a tick infected her with alpha-gal syndrome after her doctor properly diagnosed her based on Lundy having both symptoms and positive blood test results. It's a tick-borne disease that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said is potentially life-threatening and causes an allergy to mammal meats like beef, pork, venison, and could also cause intolerances to dairy and gelatin.
"It's mostly known to come from the lone star tick," said Emily Struckhoff, program specialist with Penn State Extension.
A spokesperson for the Pennsylvania Department of Health told KDKA that surveillance by the state Department of Environmental Protection now shows lone star ticks with white dots in several parts of the state, including southwestern counties, at low levels. However, the department added that "there is evidence that deer ticks ... are also linked to [the syndrome]."
"[Lone star ticks are] primarily a southern-associated species, but we have been seeing its range expand further north into southern Pa.," Struckhoff said.
The health department also said, "Recent voluntary reports show that about 300 people test positive for Alpha-Gal each year" in the state. Now that includes Lundy, who just saw an allergist and is carrying an EpiPen, while taking extra precautions at restaurants and outside.
"It's not fun, but I think there's like worse things," Lundy said.
This serves as a reminder that ticks are around year-round. Experts said the best steps you can take are wearing long sleeves and pants that you can tuck into your socks, and don't forget to spray DEET or wash your clothes in permethrin, both of which can repel ticks.
