Ticks in Maine may carry an illness that leaves humans allergic to red meat, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

A study released last month found that a Maine woman became allergic to red meat nine days after being bitten by a deer tick, among the most common variety found in the state. Previously, alpha-gal syndrome, the condition responsible for the allergy, was most commonly associated with bites from lone star ticks, which are more common in the South.

The 45-year-old woman found a tick attached to her left bicep in May 2022 after walking a wooded path in York County. A CDC evaluation confirmed it to be a deer tick.

The woman had not found an attached tick on her body in more than 10 years, according to the study.

In May 2022, she had a meal of roasted rabbit and one alcoholic beverage before experiencing a period of “abdominal pain and malaise” about two and a half hours later, according to the study. She continued to experience those symptoms after meals for about two weeks.

“All meals were shared with others who did not experience symptoms, and only mammalian meat products were associated with symptoms,” the study’s authors wrote. “Ten months after first symptoms, the patient tolerated a steak dinner and roast beef sandwich and resumed eating red meat.”

Alpha-gal syndrome leaves the body hypersensitive to a specific carbohydrate found in the tissues of mammals and a handful of other creatures. It is not found in fish, birds, reptiles or other non-mammals, according to the American Chemical Society.

There is no treatment for alpha-gal “other than avoiding red meat and other products made from mammals,” according to the Mayo Clinic.

The authors of the April study suggest that further research into the disease outside the usual range of lone star ticks is necessary, as is increased awareness among Maine’s health care providers and public health systems.