This Is What a Leg Ravaged by 'Flesh-Eating' Bacteria Looks Like

A case report out this week illustrates the gnarly damage that “flesh-eating” bacteria can cause. Doctors in Florida treated a 74-year-old man whose limbs were infected by Vibrio vulnificus, a common culprit of necrotizing fasciitis, a.k.a. the flesh-eating disease. The man survived his ordeal, albeit at the cost of losing half his right leg. While these gruesome cases are rare, warmer ocean waters fueled by climate change are making them a more frequent occurrence in the United States, the doctors warn. Flesh-eating disease is a misleading term for necrotizing fasciitis, though it’s one that has stubbornly stuck in the public imagination. Certain bacteria such as V. vulnificus can enter open wounds and trigger a rapidly destructive infection of the skin and underlying tissue (which includes the fascia). This destruction resembles half-eaten flesh, though the bacteria themselves aren’t feeding off it. V. vulnificus, a cousin of the bacteria responsible for cholera, can also cause gastrointestinal illness; these infections are usually transmitted by eating raw or undercooked shellfish. It’s predominantly found in warm seawater or brackish water. According to the case report, the man