MELBOURNE, Fla. — A flesh-eating bacteria in the same family as those that cause cholera has killed nine people in Florida this year, most recently a 59-year-old who was wading in the Halifax River to set crab traps.
Henry Konietzky, 59, of Palm Coast, Fla., died Sept. 23 after setting the traps two days earlier in the river near Ormond Beach, Fla. The very next day, he noticed he had a sore on his leg that looked like a bug bite.
That’s one way the Vibrio vulnificus bacteria is transmitted. It lives in warm, salty water.
When it comes in contact with an open wound, it can cause lesions. High-risk individuals, such as those with liver disease or cancer, have a 50% fatality rate.
Source: USA Today
