A 47-year-old New Jersey man is the first person known to have died of a meat allergy caused by the bite of a tick, according to a published report in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology: In Practice."

That tick, the lone star tick, has been confirmed by researchers to be one of five tick species present on Staten Island.

The man, an airline pilot, reportedly died of alpha-gal syndrome — a red meat allergy caused by the bite of a lone star tick — after eating a hamburger. The lone star tick is present on Staten Island and lays eggs in large numbers, according to experts.

“Unfortunately, on Staten Island, you have the five ticks that we consider to be a human health risk,’' Joellen Lampman, a school and turfgrass extension support specialist with the New York State Integrated

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