COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

An amendment pushed by United States Congressman Emanuel Cleaver (D-Kansas City) to provide $5 million for alpha-gal syndrome research was included in the Fiscal Year 2027 National Defense Authorization Act.

"By including my bipartisan amendment to invest $5 million in dedicated research, Congress is finally beginning to address a growing health challenge that has gone underrecognized and underfunded for far too long," Cleaver stated in a press release.

"I feel fortunate and blessed to be part of the effort to eradicate a very, very dangerous problem that we have in this country that most people don't even know about," Cleaver said in an interview with ABC 17 News. "And as a result, it doesn't get all of the publicity that some of the other diseases get; Congress has been reluctant to do anything."

The $5 million will help researchers better understand the disease, improve patient care and push researchers closer to figuring out effective treatments for people living with this potentially life-threatening allergy.

Cleaver said while this isn't a ton of money, it's a step in the right direction.

"$5 million is a lot of money if it's in my pocket or in your checking account, but for research, we probably need ten times that much, so, we're on the right road," said Cleaver.

Alpha-gal syndrome is an allergy to products that come from mammals. Those products can include beef, pork, lamb, lard, gelatin, natural flavors, red algae and much more. A person contracts the allergy after being bitten by the lone star tick.

Medicaid data from the Department of Health and Human Services suggests between 7,300 and 34,400 Missourians may have been affected by alpha-gal syndrome since 2021.

Cleaver said his constituents came to him expressing their concerns about alpha-gal.

"We had some people who've come into my office, year after year after year, talking about this, and it caused me to try to find out a little bit more about the tick-borne disease," said Cleaver.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that up to 450,000 people in the United States may have alpha-gal syndrome.

However, Cleaver does not support the final passage of the legislation due to partisan provisions he claims are unrelated to national defense that are included in it.

"I will continue working with colleagues on both sides of the aisle to advance policies that strengthen our national defense, support our servicemembers, and improve the lives of the people we are sent here to serve – without sacrificing the civil rights and constitutional protections that define our democracy,” Cleaver stated in the press release.