Iowa records 76 cases of tick-borne "red meat allergy" disease

State of play: Last year, the Iowa Department of Health and Human Services started tracking alpha-gal syndrome because of its geographic expansion, state medical director Robert Kruse tells Axios.

• Between 2004 and 2025, 76 alpha-gal cases have been identified in the state. There is no national disease surveillance.

Zoom in: Over the last decade, disease-carrying lone star ticks have moved farther north, including to Iowa, due to milder winters and improved survival rates.

• Deer and other animals are popular hosts for ticks, which spread them to other states.
• Alpha-gal has also been found in black-legged ticks.

Between the lines: Other tick-related diseases have been rising in Iowa since 2006, including Lyme disease and anaplasmosis, a tick-borne bacterial infection.

• There is no treatment for alpha-gal and diagnosed people are encouraged to avoid mammal-derived products to avoid allergic reactions, though some have slowly reintroduced dairy or red meat products back into their diets.

What they're saying: Preventing tick exposure is the best way to avoid the disease, including performing tick checks after being outdoors, using EPA-registered repellents and treating clothes with permethrin.