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 council
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
2026?
Estimated alpha-gal syndrome cases in the U.S.
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 in the U.S. is increasing by more than 15,000 a year.
- Provisional 2025 data from Virginia and Kentucky suggest there may be more than 30,000 suspected AGS cases per year in these two states alone—indicating that earlier CDC estimates likely significantly underestimated the number of cases.
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.
