"Deadly Sausages": Inquest Probes Shocking Tick Bite Theory Behind Teen’s Camping Tragedy

A camping trip on the NSW Central Coast turned into a nightmare when 16-year-old Jeremy Webb collapsed and died shortly after a campfire dinner. For years, his death was attributed to asthma. Now, a coroner is investigating a terrifying new theory: that a common tick bite turned the teenager's favorite food into a fatal poison.

The Campfire Tragedy

In June 2022, Jeremy Webb was enjoying a getaway with three friends at MacMasters Beach. As is tradition on Australian camping trips, the group cooked beef sausages over an open fire for dinner.

Everything seemed normal until around 11:00 p.m. Jeremy suddenly began struggling to breathe. Panic set in as he stumbled toward a nearby caravan to find an adult for help, but he collapsed before he could reach them.

Despite his friends' desperate attempts to resuscitate him, Jeremy was pronounced dead an hour and a half later at Gosford Hospital.

Mammalian Meat Allergy

Initial reports listed Jeremy’s cause of death as an asthma attack. However, a coronial inquest has revealed a far more complex and chilling possibility: Mammalian Meat Allergy (MMA).

Posthumous testing revealed Jeremy had the markers for this condition, which is caused by the bite of the paralysis tick (Ixodes holocyclus) in Australia.

What is MMA? Unlike typical food allergies that trigger immediately, MMA is a "time bomb."

It is caused when a tick transmits a sugar molecule called alpha-gal into the human bloodstream.

    - The body develops antibodies to this sugar.

    - When the person later eats mammalian meat (beef, lamb, pork), the immune system attacks.

The Danger: Reactions are delayed, typically hitting 2 to 10 hours after eating—often when the victim is asleep or miles from help.

If the coroner confirms this theory, Jeremy Webb’s death could be the first recorded fatality from tick-induced meat allergy in Australia.

"It Saves One More Life"

Jeremy’s mother, Ms. Webb, revealed to the inquest that her son had been bitten by ticks repeatedly since the age of two while camping in bushland.

“When I first suspected mammalian meat allergy, I did look into it, but there wasn’t much information back then,” Ms. Webb told the ABC. “I sort of saw it as a food intolerance, not an allergy that can kill you from anaphylaxis.”

She hopes the inquest will change how this allergy is treated. “If it saves one more life, then that’s a win, a huge win.”

A Rising Danger

The inquest heard from allergy expert Associate Professor Sheryl van Nunen, who revealed a 40% year-on-year increase in MMA diagnoses in Australia since 2020. She noted that people have a 50% chance of developing the allergy after just two tick bites.

TIARA (Tick Induced Allergies Research and Awareness) Critical Advice:

Never use tweezers to pull a tick out. Squeezing it injects the saliva (and the allergen) into your blood.

Freeze it: Use a freezing spray (like Wart-Off) to kill the tick so it drops off.

Other Cases of "Hidden" Medical Dangers

Jeremy’s case highlights how little we often know about the biological threats in our environment. Here are three other stories involving tick-induced illnesses and fatal allergic reactions that made headlines.

Pret A Manger Sesame Tragedy

In a case that shares the "preventable tragedy" theme with Jeremy Webb, 15-year-old Natasha Ednan-Laperouse died in 2016 after eating a baguette at Heathrow Airport. She went into cardiac arrest on a flight to Nice. The cause was hidden sesame seeds baked into the bread, which were not listed on the packaging. Like Jeremy, she collapsed while traveling, away from immediate hospital care. Her death led to "Natasha’s Law" in the UK, changing food labeling legislation forever.

Source: BBC News - Natasha Ednan-Laperouse Inquest

Celebrity Chef: Jock Zonfrillo’s Battle

Before his untimely passing from natural causes in 2023, MasterChef Australia judge Jock Zonfrillo was a vocal advocate for Mammalian Meat Allergy awareness. Zonfrillo contracted the allergy after being bitten by ticks in Sydney’s Northern Beaches. He described the condition as debilitating, forcing him to carry an EpiPen everywhere and causing him severe anxiety around food—a cruel twist for a professional chef. His openness helped legitimize a condition many doctors used to dismiss.

Source: News.com.au - Jock Zonfrillo’s secret health battle 

"Lone Star" Epidemic in the USA

While Australia deals with the paralysis tick, the USA is facing an explosion of Alpha-gal syndrome caused by the Lone Star Tick. Thousands of Americans in the South and East have developed the same red meat allergy. In one prominent case reported by the CDC, a patient suffered for years with mysterious midnight anaphylaxis before doctors connected it to a tick bite received while hunting. It is now considered a leading cause of anaphylaxis in the US.

Source: CDC - Alpha-gal Syndrome Surveillance