Australian teen dies from meat allergy, second global fatality

An Australian teenager has become the first person in the country, and only the second worldwide, to die from a severe allergic reaction to meat triggered by a tick bite, 24NewsHD TV reported on Friday.

Jeremy Webb, 16, died during a camping trip with friends in 2022.

At the time, his death was attributed to an acute asthma attack.

However, a medical re-evaluation initiated by his parents revealed that Webb suffered from mammalian meat allergy induced by a history of tick bites, a condition known as alpha-gal syndrome.

The New South Wales Deputy State Coroner confirmed that Webb had a history of tick bites since childhood.

During the camping trip, he had consumed beef sausages, which triggered a fatal anaphylactic reaction.

 “Jeremy died as a result of anaphylaxis due to mammalian meat allergy after a tick bite, causing an acute exacerbation of asthma,” the coroner noted in the findings report.

Alpha-gal syndrome occurs when certain ticks inject a sugar molecule called alpha-gal into the bloodstream.

The immune system then produces antibodies, leading to severe allergic reactions when the person consumes mammalian meat such as beef, pork, lamb, or kangaroo.

In Australia, the condition is linked to the paralysis tick Ixodes holocyclus, while in the United States it is primarily caused by the lone star tick Amblyomma americanum.

Reports have indicated that ticks capable of causing alpha-gal syndrome are spreading to new regions due to climate change, highlighting the growing health risk.

The first confirmed global fatality from this condition was reported in the US in 2024.

Webb’s family had moved to a densely bush-covered area of New South Wales’ Central Coast when he was five, where he experienced multiple tick bites over the years, setting the stage for the rare and fatal allergic reaction.