What Do a Cow and a Tick Have in Common?

It's not a trick question.  Rather, it was my revelation of the week.  For those of you who don't know, I've been hounded by allergic reactions to beef for over a year now.  The onset was a mystery, and no matter how much research I did or how many people I asked, I have not been able to solve this rather inconvenient conundrum.

Until a few days ago.

A conversation with some friends led me to again do a Google search on beef allergies.  I had been thinking that for some odd reason, my usually healthy self had trouble producing the enzyme that digests red meat.  And then I read this article on a website called Allergic Living.  I encourage you to take a look, especially if you live in the South and have been bitten by a tick.  Here's the summary:

A Dr. Thomas Platts-Mills at the University of Virginia had a number of patients who were going into anaphylactic shock (which can be deadly) after eating red meat.  He had basically no explanation for the phenomenon, until he was bitten by a tick back in 2007.  Three months later, he woke up covered in hives after eating red meat for dinner.  Not so much fun, but a theory was born.

Sure enough, after asking patients who had developed the allergy if they had been bitten by a tick shortly before eating red meat, he discovered that they indeed had.  Every one.  Apparently, something in the tick - perhaps the saliva or another organism - reacts with a sugar in the meat, causing the production of an antibody, which then causes the allergic reaction.  Fascinating, but I have several questions that remain.

First, why me?  My husband has been bitten by ticks but has not (yet) developed a reaction.  My sister-in-law, who also had a reaction to red meat after being bitten by a tick, is A negative like me; we are wondering if there is a correlation.  Secondly, is there any supplement that I could take to counter this reaction?  And finally, how long does it take for the antibodies to work out of one's system?

A nurse friend of mine suggested keeping an epi pen and Benadryl on hand, which is wise.  As the last reaction I had involved cramps that rivalled labor pangs, I have no desire to experience that again and am wary that one of my children could develop a reaction.  I'd be curious to know if any of you have had a similar experience, or know anyone who has.