A New Jersey airline pilot who died after contracting a rare disease caused by a tick bite that made him allergic to red meat has been identified as father of three Brian Paul Waitzel, who was found unconscious by his teen son after eating a burger.
The 47-year-old JetBlue pilot had unknowingly contracted alpha-gal syndrome last year, and first became gravely ill after eating a steak on a family camping trip, leaving him “writhing in pain, having diarrhea and vomiting,” his wife, Pieper, told The New York Times.
Two weeks later, still unaware of his condition, Waitzel ate a burger at a barbecue. Just four hours later, his son found him on the bathroom floor in a pool of vomit. He died later that night.
Blood tests would later confirm his grim status as the first documented fatality of the obscure disease, brought on by a lone star tick bite, which causes severe allergic reactions to beef, pork and lamb.
Instances of alpha-gal have spiked in recent decades as the population of lone star ticks has flourished in the Tri-State Area, with 400 diagnoses in New Jersey in 2024 and some 3,700 suspected cases on Eastern Long Island between 2017 and 2022.
The disease is communicated via a sugar molecule found in the saliva of certain tick species. Once contracted, some sufferers experience a hyper immune response that results in a major allergic reaction once they encounter it again.
Waitzel’s obituary describes him as an avid hiker and Yankees fan, who loved his family and traveling. He shared three children ages 12-16 with Pieper, his wife of 19 years.
