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The tick that can take red meat off the dinner table for the rest of your life is no bigger than a sesame seed, and it lives in the same yards, pastures and trailheads where north central Arkansans spend their summers.
Confirmed and probable cases of alpha-gal syndrome in Arkansas jumped from 70 in 2023 to 345 in 2024, according to the Arkansas Department of Health. The state logged 261 more last year.
Total reports to ADH, which include suspected cases that have not yet met the confirmed or probable threshold, have climbed even faster. The agency received 2,613 reports in 2024 and 3,781 in 2025, according to figures shared with state lawmakers.
Arkansas became the first state in the country to make alpha-gal syndrome a reportable condition in September 2023. The numbers have surprised even the people tracking them.
“This is a huge step forward in tracking the actual number of those afflicted with AGS in Arkansas,” Jennifer Burton, outreach coordinator for the northwest Arkansas nonprofit Alpha-Gal Encouragers Inc., said when the rule took effect.
What it is, and what it does
Alpha-gal syndrome is not an infection. It is an allergy.
When a Lone Star tick bites, it injects a sugar molecule called galactose-alpha-1,3-galactose, or alpha-gal, into the bloodstream, according to ADH. The molecule lives naturally in cows, pigs, deer, sheep and most other non-primate mammals, but not in humans.
In some people, the immune system reads the molecule as a threat and builds antibodies against it. After that, eating beef, pork, venison, lamb or even dairy can trigger an allergic reaction hours later.
The delay is part of what makes the syndrome so hard to spot. ADH notes that reactions can take two to 10 hours to appear, often hitting in the middle of the night, long after the meal that caused them.
Symptoms range from hives, stomach pain and vomiting to facial swelling, low blood pressure and anaphylaxis. Up to 60 percent of patients suffer anaphylactic reactions, according to figures shared by State Rep. Julie Mayberry, R-Hensley, who has the condition herself.
Alpha-gal can also hide in gelatin, glycerin, certain medications and some cosmetic products. Chicken and fish are safe.
A southern problem getting bigger
The Lone Star tick is identified by a single white speck on the back of the adult female. It thrives in the southeast, and Arkansas sits inside its core range.
“Lone Star ticks are very common in the southeast and here in Arkansas,” Dr. Tanja McKay, an entomologist at Arkansas State University, told KAIT in Jonesboro this week. “You can find Lone Star ticks, as well as other ticks, in grassy habitats, vegetation areas, maybe in a wooded area if you ever go hiking along a trail.”
Allergy rates in the southern United States run 32 percent higher than the rest of the country, according to ADH. The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates as many as 450,000 Americans may already be living with the syndrome, though most do not know it.
Searcy County, due south of Marion County, led the state in alpha-gal reports in 2024, according to ADH figures reported by 5NEWS in Fort Smith. The county sits at the heart of the same Ozark woods that draw hunters, anglers and hikers to Baxter and Marion counties.
Dr. Shane Speights, dean of the New York Institute of Technology College of Osteopathic Medicine at Arkansas State University, said the people most exposed are the ones most at risk.
“The people that actually spend a lot of time outdoors, hunters, avid hikers, people that go fishing, they’re at the highest risk of getting alpha-gal,” Speights told KAIT.
He warned the reaction tends to compound. “With each ingestion of any type of red meat, the response gets worse, to the point where it can be a very violent GI upset,” Speights said.
There is no cure.
The Spring River corridor and beyond
Speights singled out the wooded river country of the region as a hot spot.
“When you think about certainly the deep woods in northeast Arkansas, along like the Spring River and things like that, anything along the rivers or large bodies of water, you’re going to be at a higher risk,” he told KAIT in a separate interview earlier this month.
That description fits much of Baxter, Marion, Fulton and Izard counties. The White, North Fork and Buffalo rivers cut through dense oak and hickory forest that supports deer herds, and deer carry adult Lone Star ticks.
The ticks also carry other illnesses, including Rocky Mountain spotted fever and ehrlichiosis. Speights said anyone who finds a tick still attached after 36 hours should call a doctor about starting antibiotics promptly.
Is there a treatment?
The short answer is no. The CDC and ADH both state plainly that no cure exists, and the standard of care is strict avoidance of mammalian meat and other alpha-gal containing products.
Researchers are working on it. A small Turkish study published in the journal Allergy in 2023 tested oral immunotherapy on 12 alpha-gal patients, gradually exposing them to red meat under medical supervision. All 12 eventually tolerated red meat, but three had to stop treatment, two after rare tick bites reignited their allergy.
A 2024 review in Frontiers in Immunology cautioned that the patient pool is too small to draw firm conclusions and called for larger studies across multiple countries.
A research team at the University of Michigan is testing a different approach. The lab is developing biodegradable nanoparticles that carry the alpha-gal molecule and aim to retrain the immune system to ignore it. The treatment has worked in mice. Human trials have not begun.
Some allergists prescribe off-label medications to manage symptoms, including antihistamines, mast cell stabilizers, short courses of oral corticosteroids and, in select cases, the biologic drug omalizumab. None of these is approved by the federal Food and Drug Administration for alpha-gal syndrome, and no large clinical trials have tested their effectiveness for the condition.
For now, the only proven treatments are avoidance, an epinephrine auto-injector for emergencies and not getting bitten again. Repeat tick bites can drive antibody levels back up and worsen reactions, according to research published in The Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology.
Living with it
A diagnosis requires a blood test that measures alpha-gal antibody levels. The condition is now ranked as the 10th most common food allergy in the country.
For those who test positive, the adjustment is permanent and total. Reading labels becomes a daily task. Many patients carry an epinephrine auto-injector at all times.
“Imagine telling somebody you can’t eat meat anymore the rest of your life,” Speights told KAIT. “That absolutely is how this can play out sometimes.”
Mayberry is pushing legislation that would require alpha-gal to appear on federal food labels alongside other major allergens. The bill has been introduced in Congress but has not advanced.
Prevention
ADH recommends the following steps before going outdoors in tick country:
- Wear light-colored clothing so ticks are easier to spot
- Tuck pants into socks or boots
- Use an EPA-registered repellent containing DEET, picaridin or permethrin
- Stay on the center of trails and out of tall grass when possible
- Check the body, scalp and pets for ticks after coming inside
- Shower within two hours of returning indoors
- Remove attached ticks with fine-tipped tweezers, pulling straight up with steady pressure
Anyone who develops an unexplained allergic reaction after a tick bite should see a doctor and ask about an alpha-gal blood test.
The Lone Star tick is not going away. ADH and ASU researchers say the best defense is awareness, vigilance and a careful look at every inch of skin after a day in the woods.
