“Snags on the barbie” are off the menu for an increasing number of Australians due to the spread of a potentially deadly allergy linked to tick bites.

Thousands of people have developed Mammalian Meat Allergy (MMA) after being bitten by a paralysis tick, which means they can no longer consume red meat, dairy or gelatine.

Cases have been climbing since the condition was first discovered in 2007. The first recorded death occurred in 2022 when a teenage boy died after eating a beef sausage on a camping trip north of Sydney.

Professor Sheryl van Nunen, a leading allergist who was the first to identify the link between tick bites and MMA, also known as Alpha-gal syndrome, says the meat allergy is spreading in Australia and elsewhere.

“In 2007 it was described as a tick condition in Australia. Now it’s found in 52 countries on all six inhabited continents and is rising. In Australia alone we’ve recorded a 22 per cent increase between 2022 and 2025,” she said.

Read the full story at The Times