Inquest into the death of Jeremy Webb

Case Number: 2022/171534

Date of Findings: 26 February 2026

Magistrate: Deputy State Coroner, Judge Carmel Forbes

Catchwords: Mammalian Meat Allergy after tick bite-awareness in hospitals and in the community-cause of death-severe allergic reaction-anaphylaxis-asthma 

Responses

Recommendations

To the Chief Executive of the Central Coast Local Health District (CCLHD) NSW:

1. CCLHD incorporate into its education program on Management of Allergy and Anaphylaxis, provided every ten weeks to Emergency Department Junior Medical Officers, information regarding Mammalian Meat Allergy (MMA) as a potential cause of anaphylaxis, including:
   i. referring to MMA as a potential cause of anaphylaxis
   ii. inserting an additional slide concerning the atypical features of the presentation of anaphylaxis in MMA.
2. CCLHD consider amending the ‘Alerts’ on p. 2 of its Procedure on Paediatric Allergy (including anaphylaxis) Assessment and Management by:
   i. referring to the increasing prevalence of mammalian meat allergy on the east coast of Australia.
   ii. replacing reference to ‘Wart Off’ with ‘Tick Off’.
   iii. amending the Alert that reads: ‘Ticks should NOT be removed by tweezers OR killed with kerosene or other irritants as this may trigger injection of tick saliva and trigger anaphylaxis’ by adding ‘or cause, or exacerbate, development of mammalian meat allergy’.
3. CCLHD consider developing a training module for its Emergency Department registrars on MMA specifically, particularly addressing:
   i. current research concerning its prevalence in the Local Health District (LHD) area.
   ii. its cause, including its exacerbation by repeated tick bites and strategies for avoiding further tick bites.
   iii. the importance of recording a comprehensive history of the patient’s food consumption (particularly considering foods commonly containing meat derivatives) in the hours preceding a reaction.
   iv. features of the presentation of an MMA reaction, including variability.
   v. triggers, with reference to Australasian Society of Clinical Immunology and Allergy's (ASCIA) Mammalian Meat and Tick Allergy materials.
   vi. including in discharge summaries a recommendation for referral to an immunologist; follow up investigations; and a comprehensivehistory of the patient’s food consumption prior to symptoms; and
   vii. using the circumstances of Jeremy’s case as an illustrative (de-identified) study.