The “barbecue mistress” is allergic to meat following a tick bite

EDITOR’S NOTE: This article has been updated to correct Dr. Mobley’s quote about Alpha-gal. He said Alpha-gal could cause a life-threatening allergic reaction and anyone experiencing severe symptoms should seek medical attention immediately. KNWA/FOX24 regrets the error.

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (KNWA/FOX24) — Summer is in full swing and that means it’s time to have fun, spend time outdoors and eat some good barbecue. Both of these things can have more serious consequences if you are bitten by a certain type of tick.

Dana Neely, owner of Girls Gone BBQ in Fayetteville, knows how quickly life can change after a tick bite. When you walk into Girls Gone BBQ, Neely wants you to feel at home.

“I feel like I’m kind of recreating my childhood, I love the mid-century mod style,” she said. “You should really take a look at our bathroom.” It’s like you’re at grandma’s house, simple but warm.

She coined the term “Pitmistress” and is the only woman in town serving pulled pork, brisket, ribs, smoked black-eyed peas and fried okra.

“It’s my love, it’s my passion,” she said.

The Arkansas Delta native opened her shop in 2022 with the goal of bringing barbecue to everyone, from gluten-free to dairy-free and even vegans.

“I like to call it an inclusive barbecue,” she said. “Everyone should be a part of the barbecue experience.”

She said barbecuing is like creating art.

“That’s when you get the smoker and you get the coals going and you get the wood going,” she said. “It’s low and slow and you have to keep it at a certain temperature.”

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It hasn’t been an easy task for Neely to run her dream business. In 2020, she was diagnosed with breast cancer.

“December 2020, stage three lobular breast cancer, then February 2021 I had a double mastectomy,” she said.

His health issues took another turn in July 2023 and would have an even greater impact on his ability to run his barbecue store. And it all started with a tick bite.

Neely said she doesn’t really remember being bitten by a tick, but when she ate a steak filet for the first time in a long time, her body had a completely new reaction.

“I hadn’t eaten beef in a long time and decided I wanted a steak, so I made a filet,” she recalls. “The next morning I woke up and couldn’t hear anything because my ears were swollen. Then my whole body started to itch and I said: I have to look at myself. I did it and my eyes were all swollen, my nose was swollen, my face was swollen. I immediately knew I had Alpha-gal.

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Dr. Seth Mobley is a family medicine physician at Mercy in Springdale. He explains what Alpha-gal syndrome is.

“Alpha-gal is a combination of a carbohydrate in a protein that is found in almost every cell of all organisms except mammalian primates, so humans,” he said. .

He said when ticks containing this protein bite a human, it transfers into your blood.

“Unfortunately this has been associated with allergy symptoms or some intolerance to red meats, so beef, pork and lamb,” he said.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said suspected cases of Alpha-gal are mainly in areas where the lone star tick is reported. Northwest Arkansas is right in the heart of this region. The map below is from the CDC.

“I think there have been cases where they also come from different types of ticks,” Dr. Mobley said. “So there’s not really a difference between this tick and the other one, but the Lone Star is the one that’s known for that.”

Dr. Mobley said Alpha-gal would cause an allergic reaction, which could even lead to a life-threatening anaphylactic reaction.

“Essentially it’s an allergic reaction, so similar to things you would be allergic to, usually it’s not as bad as a full on anaphylactic reaction where you think you need an EpiPen or whatever it would be.”

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Alpha-gal is a serious, life-threatening allergic reaction, and symptoms appear “after people eat red meat or are exposed to other products containing alpha-gal.” ‘Alpha-gal’.

Getting Alpha-gal was a devastating discovery for Neely.

“I broke down,” she said. “I called Quincy and cried all day. I knew it would be a big challenge and that we had to take it on.

She had to completely change the way she operated.

“I can’t take the beef smoker or the pork smoker either because that’s the cooking,” she said. “I don’t do the dishes either because the meat splashes. »

They even have separate workstations and prep utensils. They have separate smokers and make sure to prepare the different meats on the stove at different times.

“You can’t let pork splatter on chicken,” she explained.

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Neely trained Quincy Kelly in the art of barbecue. She now has to do most of the meat preparation.

“I prepare all the meat, I run the smokehouses, I run the line, I do a lot of the prep as well,” she said. “It’s a lot of heavy lifting.”

Kelly said Neely’s courage and perseverance were inspiring.

“He is the most extraordinary and courageous person I know,” she said.

They created a whole menu so people with Alpha-gal syndrome can still enjoy barbecue.

“It can be a little scary because I’ve seen Dana’s reactions and I want to make sure that whoever comes in here is safe and that no one reacts. So we all have different things,” she said. declared.

Neely encourages you to protect yourself against tick bites when spending time outdoors this summer.

“As much as we hate it, wear DEET and you know if you’ve been outside, check it yourself when you come in,” she said.

And she wants you to know that you can enjoy great home cooking at her store, regardless of your dietary restrictions.

“Come in and eat the Delta-style barbecue and our homemade southern sides, everything is homemade,” she said.

Neely said business was good at Girls Gone BBQ, but she now needed another pair of hands to help her in the areas where she no longer could. His next goal is to hire another person to work in his restaurant.

If you want to help Neely achieve this goal, you can always eat at her restaurant, or you can donate to the GoFundMe fundraiser started by his mother.

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