The tick that can take red meat off the dinner table for the rest of your life is no bigger than a sesame seed, and it lives in the same yards, pastures and trailheads where north central Arkansans spend their summers.
Confirmed and probable cases of alpha-gal syndrome in Arkansas jumped from 70 in 2023 to 345 in 2024, according to the Arkansas Department of Health. The state logged 261 more last year.
Total reports to ADH, which include suspected cases that have not yet met the confirmed or probable threshold, have climbed even faster. The agency received 2,613 reports in 2024 and 3,781 in 2025, according to figures shared with state lawmakers…