Stomach cramps or hives after salami, and a cat at home? That combination has a name: pork-cat syndrome. Pork reactions can also come from alpha-gal, the tick-linked meat sugar. Our test checks your blood for IgE to pork serum albumin, cat serum albumin and alpha-gal, as part of 300 allergens and allergen components, so both routes show up on one report.
Cat serum albumin (Fel d 2) and pork serum albumin look very alike. Some people become sensitised to cat albumin from living with cats, and their antibodies then also recognise pork albumin. When they eat pork, especially raw, dried or lightly cooked pork, some of them react.
Serum albumin is sensitive to heat, which is why reports centre on cured and air-dried products such as salami and raw ham, and on undercooked pork. Well-cooked pork is tolerated by many people in this group. Reactions tend to start quickly, within minutes to an hour.
Alpha-gal is a sugar in the meat of most mammals. Some people make IgE to it after tick bites, including bites from the castor bean tick found from Ireland to Finland. Alpha-gal reactions typically start two to six hours after eating, often at night, and cover beef and lamb as well as pork.
Pork kidney and other offal carry a lot of alpha-gal and are often named as strong triggers. The timing of your reactions and your results for cat, pork and alpha-gal together help a doctor tell the two routes apart.
People describe itching in the mouth, hives, stomach cramps, vomiting, diarrhoea and swelling after eating pork, and some report severe reactions. In pork-cat syndrome, reactions are usually quick. With alpha-gal, they are usually delayed by hours.
Swelling of the lips, tongue or throat, trouble breathing or feeling faint after eating, even hours later, is an emergency. Call 112 (EU) or your local emergency number. Do not wait for a test.
From your finger-prick sample, the lab measures IgE to pork serum albumin as part of 300 allergens and allergen components. There is no whole pork meat extract on the panel. Cat serum albumin and alpha-gal are measured in the same sample. Your lab report gives each value a class from Negative to Very high.
A positive result shows sensitisation, not a confirmed allergy. Many people with cat albumin IgE eat pork without problems. Take your results to a doctor before changing what you eat.
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One finger-prick sample checks IgE to 300 allergens and allergen components, from birch and peanut to cat and house dust mite. Post it to the lab, and about 5 days after it arrives you get a value for every one. Our plain-English guide shows you how to read them. €399 in total, €1.33 per allergen.
People sensitised to cat serum albumin (Fel d 2) can make antibodies that also recognise pork serum albumin, because the two proteins are very similar. Some of them react to pork, mainly raw, dried or undercooked pork such as salami. The panel measures both albumins.
Pork serum albumin is damaged by heat. Air-dried and cured products like salami and raw ham are never cooked, so the protein stays intact. That is the usual explanation in pork-cat syndrome.
Timing is the main clue. Pork-cat reactions tend to start within minutes to an hour. Alpha-gal reactions usually start two to six hours after eating. Both are on the same report, so a doctor can compare them.
