If you’ve been out on the Katy Trail or working in the garden this summer, you’ve probably already pulled a tick off yourself or the dog. It’s that season — and this month, Missouri quietly changed how seriously the state takes one of the stranger things a tick bite can do to you.
On Monday, Gov. Mike Kehoe signed House Bill 2372, which now requires labs to report every confirmed case of Alpha-Gal Syndrome to the state health department, which in turn sends an annual report to the CDC. Alpha-gal is the tick-bite allergy that leaves some people unable to eat red meat, dairy, or other mammal products without a reaction — sometimes a serious one. State health records already show more than 34,000 Missourians have reported a case since 2021, and lawmakers behind the bill say better tracking should help make the case for more federal research money down the line, according to Missourinet.
The tick most often blamed for alpha-gal is the lone star tick — easy to spot on females by the single white dot on their back — and it’s one of three common ticks you’ll run into around here, alongside the American dog tick and the blacklegged (deer) tick. Between them, Missouri’s ticks can carry Lyme disease, Rocky Mountain spotted fever, ehrlichiosis, and a couple of rarer viruses, according to the Missouri Department of Conservation. Missouri is also one of the states that sees the most Rocky Mountain spotted fever cases nationally, so it’s not a small-town scare story — it’s a real regional risk.
Ticks are toughest here from April through July, per MDC — meaning we’re in the thick of it right now, even if the worst of the season is starting to ease. Worth knowing, too: researchers from Mizzou’s veterinary college confirmed Boone County’s first longhorned tick back in 2023 — a species that can reproduce without a mate, spread fast, and carries its own set of risks to livestock as well as people, per KOMU. It’s established here now, alongside the more familiar species.
The prevention basics haven’t changed: tuck your pants into your socks on the trail, use a DEET-based repellent, avoid brushing through tall grass and underbrush, and do a real tick check — mirror included — once you’re back inside. If you find one attached, MDC recommends a slow, steady pull straight out with fine-tipped tweezers, not a match or nail polish.
If you do get bitten and start feeling off in the days after — fever, rash, joint pain, or a strange reaction after eating meat — it’s worth getting checked rather than waiting it out. Locally, the MedZou Community Health Clinic in Columbia sees patients free of charge (call ahead to schedule), and the Family Health Center, also in Columbia, offers a sliding fee scale and can help with Medicaid questions if cost is a worry. Neither requires insurance to be seen.
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