Pilot and healthy dad of 3 whose teen son found him dead in bathroom of rare tick-borne alpha-gal syndrome is identified

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....