Setting It Level · Viral Post Fact Check ·

450,000 Americans now have a "meat allergy" due to Bill Gates-funded ticks that infect people with alpha-gal syndrome.

Screenshot of the viral post we checked, claiming: 450,000 Americans now have a "meat allergy" due to Bill Gates-funded ticks that infect people with alpha-gal syndrome.
The post as it circulated. Faces of private individuals are blurred.

Our rating

False

How we rate

What We Found

The CDC estimates up to 450,000 Americans may have alpha-gal syndrome, a tick-linked allergy to red meat.

It is spread mainly by bites from lone star ticks, which occur naturally in the U.S.

The Gates-funded tick research involved a different tick species kept in a UK lab and never released.

Sources

  1. Snopes, Bill Gates Foundation ticks claim (opens in new tab)
  2. PolitiFact, no connection between Gates-funded modified ticks and alpha-gal (opens in new tab)
  3. CDC, emerging tick-bite meat allergy (opens in new tab)
  4. AP News Fact Check, ticks, meat allergy and the Gates Foundation (opens in new tab)

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