CDC Finds Steep Increase In Allergies To Red Meat

By Populisty

The CDC reported today that as many as 450,000 people in the United States might have been affected by a red-meat allergy called alpha-gal syndrome associated with tick bites. It has some Internet sleuths wondering if it is part of a secret agenda to to fight climate change.

According to two recent reports, between 2010 and 2022, there were more than 110,000 suspected cases of alpha-gal syndrome identified. The cases has increased every year. However, the CDC suspects the majority of cases go unreported and untested and estimate the number to be much higher.

Links to CDC reports:

– Geographic Distribution of Suspected Alpha-gal Syndrome Cases — United States, January 2017–December 2022
– Health Care Provider Knowledge Regarding Alpha-gal Syndrome — United States, March–May 2022

“Alpha-gal is a sugar found in meat from mammals (pork, beef, rabbit, lamb, venison, etc.) and products made from mammals (e.g., gelatin, cow’s milk, milk products, some pharmaceuticals),” the release states. “AGS is a serious allergic condition some people experience after they consume food or products containing alpha-gal.”

The CDC says growing evidence suggests that AGS is primarily associated with the bite of a Lone Star tick in the United States, but other kinds of ticks have not been ruled out. Localities in the Southern, Midwestern, and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States identified more people who tested positive.

See map below for the concentration of confirmed cases:

This spike in red-meat allergies comes after scientists have suggested deliberately spreading alpha-gal to humans in order to reduce climate change. The theory is that cattle contribute to global warming; therefore, if fewer people ate meat it would help the planet cool down.

S. Matthew Liao from the NYU School of Global Public Health gave a TED talk in 2013 suggesting exactly this scenario: