**Alpha-Gal Syndrome Death: New Jersey Man Believed to Be First to Die from Meat Allergy Caused by Tick Bite**

*By Michael Bartiromo | ABC7 | November 14, 2025*

A tragic death in New Jersey is now being called the first-ever fatality linked to a meat allergy caused by a tick bite. Doctors report that a 47-year-old man, who passed away in the summer of last year, experienced a severe allergic reaction after eating steak following a day spent outdoors.

Initially, the man became very ill but recovered, so he did not suspect anything serious. However, two weeks later, after eating a hamburger, he suffered a fatal reaction, according to officials.

This allergy is known as **Alpha-gal syndrome**. It is triggered by the bite of the lone star tick. According to the University of Virginia Health system, individuals sensitized to the sugar molecule called alpha-gal can experience allergic symptoms such as rash, nausea, and vomiting after consuming red meat like beef, pork, or lamb.

While researchers had long feared that severe cases could lead to deadly anaphylaxis, this is the first confirmed fatality linked to the allergy.

Dr. Thomas Platts-Mills, former chief of UVA Health’s Division of Asthma, Allergy, and Clinical Immunology, emphasized the importance of public awareness:
> “First, severe abdominal pain occurring 3 to 5 hours after eating beef, pork, or lamb should be investigated as a possible episode of anaphylaxis. Second, tick bites that itch for more than a week — or exposure to larvae of ticks often called ‘chiggers’ — can induce or increase sensitization to mammalian-derived meat.”

The man was an airline pilot, and his case highlights the potentially life-threatening consequences of this little-known allergy.

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**Topics:** Food, Health/Medicine, Science
**Keywords:** allergy, Alpha-gal syndrome, beef, Lyme disease, meat, New Jersey, ticks

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