Tick Bites and Red Meat Anaphylaxis: The Link Most Australians Don't Know About

Reviewed: 29 June 2026

I was walking a bush trail near Old Bar, outside Taree, when I felt what I thought was a scratch. I didn't think much of it. It wasn't until I got home and my nan was the one who found it — a tick, tucked in between my breasts. Out came the tweezers. She dug around getting it out the way generations of Australians have been taught to do it. We didn't know then what I know now. What she did in that moment — disturbing a live tick with metal tweezers — was exactly the wrong thing. And what that tick could have done, beyond the immediate bite, is something that would have genuinely shocked both of us.

This blog is about the link that most Australians haven't heard of — between a tick bite and a serious, potentially fatal allergy to red meat. It sounds like a stretch. Every time I teach it in a course, I watch faces go from sceptical to alarmed. That reaction is exactly why this needs to be said more clearly and more often.

What Australians Need to Know About This — Right Now

In February 2026, the NSW Deputy State Coroner handed down findings on the death of Jeremy Webb — a 16-year-old from the Central Coast of NSW who died in June 2022. Jeremy had been bitten by ticks repeatedly while camping and riding his bike in bushland near his home. His mother later told the inquest that he would come home covered in ticks. On a camping trip with friends at MacMasters Beach, he ate beef sausages around a campfire. He had a severe allergic reaction, went into anaphylaxis, which triggered a catastrophic asthma attack. His friends administered CPR. Ambulance officers gave him three doses of adrenaline on the way to Gosford Hospital. He didn't make it.

The Deputy State Coroner ruled he died from "anaphylaxis due to mammalian meat allergy after tick bite, causing an acute exacerbation of asthma." It was the first confirmed fatal case of mammalian meat allergy in Australia — and the second in the world, after a 47-year-old man in New Jersey who died in 2024, four hours after eating a hamburger, with no idea he was sensitised.

Neither of them knew. That is the whole problem.

What Is Mammalian Meat Allergy (MMA)?

Mammalian meat allergy — also called alpha-gal syndrome — is a food allergy caused not by a food, but by a tick bite. Specifically, in Australia, it is caused by the eastern paralysis tick, Ixodes holocyclus, found along the east coast from Far North Queensland to Victoria.

Here's the mechanism, as plainly as I can put it:

• 
  
  The tick bites you While feeding, the tick injects saliva containing a sugar molecule called alpha-galactose — alpha-gal for short. Alpha-gal is found in the bodies of all mammals except humans and great apes.
• 
  
  Your immune system is reprogrammed In some people, that alpha-gal triggers the production of IgE antibodies. Your immune system has now learned to treat alpha-gal as a threat. You feel nothing. You may not know this has happened for weeks or months.
• 
  
  You eat red meat — beef, lamb, pork, venison All of these contain alpha-gal. Your sensitised immune system recognises it and launches an attack. But because digestion takes time, the reaction doesn't happen straight away.
• 
  
  2–6 hours later, the reaction hits Hives. Gut cramping. Vomiting. Difficulty breathing. A racing heart. In severe cases, anaphylaxis. You've been asleep for hours. You had dinner at 7pm. You wake up at 1am covered in hives and can't breathe — and you have no idea why.

The delay is what makes this condition so dangerous and so consistently missed. It does not behave like a normal food allergy. There is no immediate "I ate the thing and reacted" connection. People get diagnosed with irritable bowel syndrome, anxiety, or food poisoning. They get tested for everything except the thing that's actually causing it — because no one told them a tick bite could do this.

Two Types of Tick Reaction — And Why People Confuse Them

There are two distinct ways a tick can cause a severe allergic reaction. Understanding the difference matters — because they feel different, happen at different times, and require different responses.

The connection between these two conditions is important: tick anaphylaxis (the immediate reaction) is often what sensitises someone in the first place. Incorrect removal — squeezing with tweezers, applying salt or tropical roll-on — injects a bolus of tick saliva into the bloodstream. That saliva contains alpha-gal. Each time this happens, the sensitisation deepens. The person who develops MMA months later may never connect it to a tick removal that seemed to go fine at the time.

This is why correct tick removal is not just about the immediate bite — it is about protecting your immune system from a chain of consequences that can unfold over years.

Why Your Students Don't Believe It — And Why That's Understandable

Every time I teach this in a course, the room goes quiet and then someone says "that can't be right." I get it. The idea that a bug bite could make you permanently allergic to a steak seems like something from a science fiction novel. So let me give you the reasons people are sceptical, and the reasons those objections don't hold up.

"I've been bitten by ticks for years and I'm fine"

So was Jeremy Webb. So was every person who now has MMA. The allergy doesn't appear after one bite — it builds with each exposure. The people most likely to dismiss this risk are the ones with the longest history of tick bites — and therefore the ones most likely to be sensitised. History of exposure is not protection. It's the opposite.

"I've eaten red meat my whole life without a problem"

MMA is not triggered by red meat you've eaten before sensitisation. It is triggered by red meat eaten after a tick bite has reprogrammed your immune system. The allergy can appear weeks or months after a bite you may not even remember having. People who have eaten red meat their entire lives are not immune — they simply haven't been sensitised yet.

"I'd know if I had a meat allergy"

The delay is why you wouldn't. The reaction comes 2 to 6 hours after eating — often in the middle of the night. You had dinner, felt fine, went to sleep, and woke up in anaphylaxis. No one wakes up at 1am thinking "it must have been the lamb chops." They think they have food poisoning. They think they have a stomach bug. They get misdiagnosed for years.

"It must be really rare"

787 Australians tested positive for alpha-gal antibodies in 2024 alone. Researchers estimate 90% of cases are never diagnosed. Associate Professor Sheryl van Nunen — who first identified MMA in Australia — described cases dating back to the 1980s that were likely MMA but never identified as such. It is not rare. It is underdiagnosed.

Who Is Most at Risk

CSIRO research published in 2026 identified the peak risk group as Australians aged 45 to 75, with females accounting for approximately 60% of cases. But the Jeremy Webb case reminds us that younger Australians with significant tick exposure history are not exempt — and that the combination of MMA with pre-existing asthma can be catastrophic.

What to Do If You Think You Have MMA

If any of this sounds familiar — unexplained reactions after eating red meat, symptoms that appear hours after dinner, a history of tick bites on the NSW or QLD coast — talk to your GP and ask specifically for an alpha-gal IgE blood test. It is a simple blood test. It is not routinely ordered, which is why so many people go undiagnosed. You have to ask for it by name.

If the test comes back positive:

• Avoid all mammalian meat — beef, lamb, pork, venison, and products containing gelatine
• Read labels — gelatine appears in lollies, marshmallows, some capsule medications, some supplements
• Carry an adrenaline auto-injector — your GP or allergist will prescribe an EpiPen or Anapen; know how to use it and make sure the people around you do too
• Tell people around you — family, carers, workmates, coaches. If you go into anaphylaxis hours after a meal, the people with you need to know what to do and not wait for you to ask for help
• Avoid further tick bites — alpha-gal antibody levels can decrease over 12 to 18 months without re-sensitisation. Preventing future bites gives your immune system the chance to settle. This only works if you stop getting bitten — and stop using methods that inject allergen during removal
• See an allergist — ASCIA and TiARA (Tick Induced Allergies Research and Awareness) can connect you with specialist support
• Download AllergyPal — a free Australian smartphone app designed to help people with food and insect allergies manage their condition safely, including emergency action plans. Search for AllergyPal in the App Store or Google Play

First Aid for Tick Anaphylaxis — Act Immediately

If someone develops symptoms of anaphylaxis after a tick is removed — hives, facial swelling, difficulty breathing, dizziness, collapse — this is a medical emergency. Do not wait to see if it gets better.

1. Lay the person down — do not let them sit or stand up
2. Administer adrenaline via EpiPen or Anapen into the outer mid-thigh muscle, held for three seconds
3. Call 000 immediately
4. If no improvement after 5 minutes, give a second dose if available
5. Stay with the person until the ambulance arrives — anaphylaxis can biphasic, meaning symptoms can return hours later even after initial improvement

If you or someone you care for has a known tick allergy, carry your prescribed adrenaline injector at all times when outdoors in tick country. Do not leave it in the car.

And always — always — remove ticks correctly in the first place. Read our full guide: How to Remove a Tick in Australia: Freeze First, Not Tweezers. The freeze-first method kills the tick before it can inject saliva. It is the only removal method that actively reduces your risk of tick anaphylaxis and MMA sensitisation.

The Right Kit — Because Being Ready Isn't Optional Out Here

If you live near the coast, travel to tick country, have animals, or spend time outdoors in NSW or QLD, you need a TickTox and a Tick Twister in your kit. Full stop. The Snake Bite Max kit includes both — alongside the wound care, bandaging, and treatment supplies for the full range of Australian bites and stings. It was built for exactly the kind of situation where help is not immediately available and getting it wrong has consequences.

If you carry an adrenaline auto-injector, knowing how to use it before you need it is non-negotiable. Watch this short video from Samantha's channel — it shows exactly how to administer an EpiPen, so it's not the first time you're learning it in an emergency.

Frequently Asked Questions

Read next: How to Remove a Tick in Australia: Freeze First, Not Tweezers — the correct removal method, why tweezers and salt make everything worse, and why the book changed.