Lyme Disease Association of Australia

18/06/2026

Alpha gal (aka Mammalian Meat Allergy) - The tick may not be the whole story 🤔

The explosion of cases raises many questions that deserve careful scrutiny. For example:

❓Why have cases of alpha-gal syndrome risen so suddenly?

❓Why do some people test positive but have no symptoms?

❓Why do some people have very mild reactions while others’ reactions are severe, even life-threatening?

❓What role do mammalian-derived pharmaceuticals and medical interventions, gut permeability, microbiome composition, repeated tick bites, genetics, and environmental exposures play?

❓How often are symptoms complicated by histamine intolerance, mast cell disorders, irritable bowel syndrome, medication reactions, foodborne contaminants, mitochondrial and other metabolic disorders, and so on?

“Ironically, alpha-gal syndrome was not discovered because people reacted to steak.
It was discovered because cancer patients in the southeastern United States experienced severe reactions to cetuximab, a monoclonal antibody.”

Robert Malone unpacks these questions and more in his essay: https://open.substack.com/pub/rwmalonemd/p/alpha-gal-syndrome-beyond-the-tick

17/06/2026

LDAA President Sharon Whiteman was recently interviewed on live TV!

Sharon was invited to appear on live TV on The Country Telegraph, a daily program dedicated to celebrating regional, rural and outback Australia while exploring the issues shaping our nation’s future.

During the interview with host Mike Ryan, Sharon discussed:

✔️ Lyme disease and other tick-borne diseases in Australia
✔️ The challenges faced by patients and families
✔️ The urgent need for better awareness, diagnosis and support
✔️ LDAA’s National Tick-Borne Disease Survey and how community participation is helping build the evidence needed to drive change

💥 Add your story to the survey here: https://lymedisease.org.au/national-tickborne-disease-survey/

We appreciate the opportunity to raise awareness of the growing impact of tick-borne diseases on Australians and the importance of collecting patient data to inform research, healthcare, and policy.

📺 Watch the interview recording here: https://www.thecountrytelegraph.tv

Thank you to Mike Ryan and The Country Telegraph team for helping bring attention to this important public health issue. 🙏

17/06/2026

Thursday 18 June, 6.00am (AEST) 🎯
Why Some Heal & Others Stay Stuck with Bill Rawls, MD

Dr Rawls has spent more than two decades at the intersection of herbal therapy, cellular wellness, autophagy, and chronic Lyme recovery. This is his most comprehensive conversation yet on why herbs work — and why they work when other approaches fall short.

Register now 👇👇👇

Dr. Bill Rawls on why herbs, autophagy, and cellular health are the missing piece in chronic illness recovery. Free. June 17th, 4 PM ET.

15/06/2026

Did your relationship survive Lyme? 🥺 🎯 🫂
Chronic Lyme disease doesn’t just affect the person who is sick. It affects spouses, children, friendships, careers, finances, and nearly every aspect of life.

In this podcast, Fred Diamond chats with fellow Lyme author Sarah Krivos, who now realises that while she was ill, she was pushing away the person who loved her most. She admits that she often lashed out at her husband, Dan. 😪

If you have loved ones who don't know how to help, seek out Fred Diamond's book “Love, Hope, Lyme: What Family Members, Partners, and Friends Who Love a Chronic Lyme Survivor Need to Know.” 🙌
Fred's book is available on Amazon and the e-version (pdf) is always free to Lyme survivors. PM Fred on Facebook or LinkedIn for your copy 🆓 🙏 💚

By Fred Diamond A Lyme advocate once shared with me that they estimated that 75% of committed relationships will terminate when chronic Lyme is involved.

11/06/2026

In Australia, Alpha-gal syndrome is mostly referred to as Mammalian Meat Allergy. That nomenclature is seriously misleading; it’s far more complex than a simple allergy to mammalian meat.

People living with this disease know that avoiding red meat is just the beginning as the data from tickbitedata’s survey clearly shows:

* 72.5% reported reactions to dairy
* 78.6% reported reactions to gelatin-containing foods
* 67.3% reported reactions to gelatin-containing medications
* 73.0% reported reactions from cross-contamination
* 87.9% reported reactions to small amounts of mammalian-derived ingredients

Reactions reported include gastrointestinal symptoms, cardiovascular concerns, skin manifestations, sleep disruption, anxiety, or significant impacts on daily functioning.

This disease can cause neurological symptoms such as brain fog, mental fatigue, headaches, dizziness, and tremors.

Tick Bite Data lays it all out here:
https://www.tickbitedata.com/post/alpha-gal-is-not-behaving-like-a-red-meat-allergy-in-our-data

11/06/2026

The Educated Patient recently interviewed Dr. Charlotte Mao, infectious disease pediatrician and advisory board member at Bay Area Lyme.

This in depth discussion highlights a review she co-authored examining the current evidence surrounding Lyme disease in pregnancy, as well as the important questions that remain unanswered.

As research continues to evolve, conversations like these help raise awareness, support informed decision-making, and identify gaps where further research is urgently needed.

Charlotte Mao, M.D., highlights significant unanswered questions about whether and how Lyme disease may be transmitted from mother to child during pregnancy and birth.

09/06/2026

💥 Too many patients are told, “Your test is negative, so you don’t have Lyme.”

😣 This mindset is dangerous because it creates diagnostic dead-ends. Patients who clearly fit the clinical picture are left without treatment, often bouncing from specialist to specialist.

😧 In the meantime, untreated Lyme can progress to affect multiple systems: joints, nerves, heart, gut, and even vision or hearing. By the time years have passed, recovery is often harder and slower.

🎯 Clinical diagnosis prevents these delays by empowering providers to treat based on the whole picture, not just lab paperwork.

👇 Get the full story

Negative Lyme test but still sick? Learn why Lyme is a clinical diagnosis and how symptoms, history, and testing limitations shape proper evaluation.

07/06/2026

🕷️ Regardless of the label, Australians are getting sick after tick bites, and our systems aren’t set up to properly detect or manage it.

🩺 Australians are left undiagnosed or unsupported, which means prolonged illness, financial strain, significant loss of quality of life and sometimes death.

✅ Australia urgently needs a coordinated national strategy for tick-borne diseases so patients can be diagnosed, treated, and counted.

🫵🏼 You can be part of the solution: learn how here: https://lymedisease.org.au/national-tickborne-disease-survey/

05/06/2026

Dr Richard Horowitz offers his take on new Health and Human Services action in the US led by Secretary Kennedy 🎯 🤔 👀

On why it's hard for chronic patients to get well, Horowitz writes:

"Treating the biofilm/persister forms of the bacteria was the key. The patients who are ill post dapsone combination therapy usually still need to address their mold, active Babesia, active Bartonella, microbiome imbalances with leaky gut and/or mast cell activation, sleep disorder, vitamin and mineral deficiencies, immune deficiency and/or autoimmune reactions, mitochondrial, hormonal, and liver dysfunction as well as the neurological and psychological dysfunction, autonomic system dysfunction with or without POTS, pain syndromes and deconditioning.

In other words, they still had inflammation coming from multiple MSIDS factors that still needed to be properly addressed for their health to improve. That is the rule, not the exception for those thousands of patients I have treated. So when researchers describe needing ‘pure Lyme disease cases’ for clinical trials, they are ignoring the reality of the situation".

There's a LOT in this article, and it's worth a look 👇👇👇

I am happy to see more attention is being given to Lyme disease by Secretary Kennedy.

05/06/2026

📢 Have you been affected by Alpha-gal Syndrome (Mammalian Meat Allergy) or another tick-induced allergy?

TiARA (Tick-induced Allergies Australia) is conducting an important national survey to better understand the impact of tick-induced allergies in Australia, including Alpha-gal Syndrome.

Your experience can help shape future research, improve healthcare awareness, and strengthen advocacy efforts for people living with these conditions.

✅ Takes just 8–12 minutes
✅ Completely anonymous
✅ Every response makes a difference

The information collected will help to:
• Improve awareness among healthcare professionals and the wider community
• Identify gaps in diagnosis, treatment, and support
• Support advocacy efforts and future research funding

Whether you have been directly affected, care for someone who has, or have relevant experience with tick-induced allergies, we encourage you to participate.

👉 Take the survey here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScq6q2LjMhzqAmgN47xpkV2_3Ph02PQuVcg_YE4qpj-E-kn-w/viewform?usp=send_form

Please consider sharing this post to help us reach more Australians affected by tick-induced allergies.

Thank you for supporting this important work.