The death of New South Wales teenager Jeremy Webb has been confirmed as Australia’s first fatal case of a tick-induced red meat allergy, raising fresh concerns about the little-known condition.
Mr Webb was on a trip with three friends on the Central Coast on June 10, 2022, when he ate beef sausages that had been cooked over a campfire.
By 11pm, he had started having difficulty breathing and collapsed on his way to get help from an adult in a nearby caravan.
His friends tried to resuscitate him but the outgoing, athletic teen was pronounced dead just an hour-and-a-half later at Gosford Hospital.
Although first believed to have died from asthma, Mr Webb was posthumously diagnosed with a potentially lethal allergy to red meat.
On Thursday, NSW Deputy State Coroner Carmel Forbes ruled that the teenager suffered an allergic reaction which sparked the deadly asthma attack.
‘Without the anaphylaxis, the asthma would not have caused his death’, Magistrate Forbes told the court, ABC News reports.
The death of New South Wales teenager Jeremy Webb (pictured) has been confirmed as Australia’s first fatal case of a tick-induced red meat allergy
Mr Webb had difficulty breathing after eating beef sausages while on a trip with three friends on the Central Coast on June 10, 2022 (stock image)
Jeremy’s mother Dr Myfanwy Webb has previously said her son was repeatedly bitten by ticks from the age of two during camping trips.
She said she believes this led to his adverse reactions to red meat.
Tick bites can trigger a mammalian meat allergy, which can manifest as stomach discomfort, nausea, vomiting, hives or swelling, or escalate to anaphylaxis.
During the inquest into Mr Webb’s death, allergy expert Associate Professor Sheryl van Nunen told the court it can take up to five hours for symptoms to develop after eating red meat.
‘But when it starts, it evolves rapidly. So people go from zero to 100,’ she said.
She believed Mr Webb had a mammalian meat allergy from childhood, based on his rapid onset asthma, his history of tick bites and a history of allergic symptoms after eating red meat.
Associate Professor van Nunen previously told the inquest there had been a 40 per cent year-on-year increase in mammalian meat allergy diagnoses in Australia since 2020.
The highest rates are in NSW and Queensland, with the Sydney basin – notably the Northern Beaches area – becoming a global hotspot.
Jeremy’s mother Dr Myfanwy Webb (pictured) has previously said her son was repeatedly bitten by ticks from the age of two which she believes led to his adverse reactions to red meat
Tick bites can trigger a mammalian meat allergy, which can manifest as stomach discomfort, nausea, vomiting, hives or swelling, or escalate to anaphylaxis (stock image)
Deaths from mammalian meat allergy are extremely rare, with the few recorded deaths caused by medicines containing the meat allergen referred to as alpha-gal.
Experts agreed Mr Webb died from a combination of a severe allergic reaction or anaphylaxis and an acute asthma attack.
The inquest has examined the adequacy of Mr Webb’s medical treatment before his death, the role anaphylaxis played in his death, and whether his death could have been prevented by earlier detection.
In November last year, researchers from the University of Virginia confirmed what is believed to be the world’s first documented alpha-gal syndrome death.
Doctors reported a 47-year-old New Jersey man died in 2024 after eating beef, with symptoms starting four hours after his meal.
The campaign group Tick Induced Allergies Research and Awareness (TIARA) has detailed guidance on its website on prevention.
People walking or working in areas where ticks occur, like the bush, should wear light-coloured clothing including long-sleeved shirts and long pants tucked into socks.
If someone is bitten by a tick, people are advised not to ‘pick’ it out of their skin with tweezers or tick-removal gadgets which might accidentally squeeze the tick.
Doing so could ’cause tick saliva to enter your body, increasing the risk of tick-induced allergies’, the campaign said.
The best removal method is to spray a freezing medication and then allow it to drop off. If that fails, TIARA advises removal via a GP or at an emergency department.
