Pork-cat syndrome

Abstract

Meat allergy used to be considered a rare hypersensitivity reaction, but case reports of mammalian and poultry meat allergies became more common about 20 years ago. Allergies to pets such as cats (Felis domesticus) and dogs (Canis familiaris) are the second most common indoor allergic reactions in Western countries, affecting both adults and children. An important step in fur allergy diagnosis has been the introduction of molecular allergen-based diagnosis, which offers new opportunities for improved allergen characterization. An example of these new characterizations is the meat reactions of patients suffering from pork-cat syndrome. Patients with this syndrome sensitized to albumin from animal epithelia report symptoms after eating pork because there is cross-reactivity to albumins from different species. The management of a patient with an allergic condition to fur-bearing animals includes a detailed history of exposure to relevant allergens, the effect of exposure on symptoms and subsequent recommendations for controlled exposure, and in the case of pig-cat syndrome, the patient can tolerate well-cooked red meat, but not the insufficiently prepared one.