Alpha-gal Coalition
Advancing coordinated strategies to improve the lives of people affected by alpha-gal syndrome through collaboration, shared knowledge, and strategic action.
Alpha-gal syndrome
expert advisory committee
About
us
Alpha-gal syndrome
an allergy and a tick-borne condition
Alpha-gal syndrome (AGS) is a serious, sometimes life-threatening allergy to a sugar found in most mammals and products made from mammals. More than 60% of people with AGS have life-threatening, anaphylactic reactions, and a number of fatalities have occurred.
Alpha-gal syndrome (AGS) develops after tick bites. In the United States, most cases are associated with lone star ticks, which are most common in the southern, midwestern, and mid-Atlantic United States.
Preliminary data suggests that other ticks found in the U.S. may also induce AGS, including black-legged ticks (Ixodes scapularis), Western black-legged ticks (Ixodes pacifica), Cayenne ticks (Amblyomma cajennense complex), and invasive Asian longhorned ticks (Haemaphysalis longicornis).
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Adapted from McGill SK, Hashash JG, Platts-Mills TA. AGA Clinical Practice Update on Alpha-Gal Syndrome for the GI Clinician: Commentary. Clin Gastroenterol Hepatol.
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2009 known cases
2017 estimated cases
2018 estimated cases
2022 estimated cases
A growing public health crisis
- The CDC has identified alpha-gal syndrome as a growing clinical and public health threat.
- As lone star tick populations grow and their range expands, the number of alpha-gal syndrome cases grows, too.
- According to the CDC, the number of new suspected cases of AGS is increasing by more than 15,000 a year.
Our mission
Our mission is to advance coordinated strategies to improve the lives of people affected by alpha-gal syndrome through collaboration, shared knowledge, and strategic action.
The Alpha-gal Syndrome Expert Advisory Council
Goal
To convene a cohort of alpha-gal syndrome experts to advise coordinated strategies advancing public awareness, provider education, public health initiatives, improved diagnostics and treatment, food and medical safety, and prevention.
