A New Jersey dad who collapsed and died after eating a hamburger has now been identified as the first known fatality from a rare meat allergy caused by a tick bite.

The 47-year-old victim, an otherwise healthy airline pilot, is the first known death from alpha-gal syndrome , a disease spread by bites from the Lone Star Tick that has sickened hundreds, according to a study by researchers at the University of Virginia .

The otherwise unidentified New Jersey dad first noticed red meat made him sick after eating a steak on a family camping trip during the summer of last year, leaving him violently sick.

Lone Star ticks have a noticeable yellow spot on their shell. ondreicka – stock.adobe.com

“I thought I was going to die,” he told his son the next morning, according to the study.

The

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