Flesh-Eating Bacteria

MICHAEL SMITH: Flesh eating, bacteria in the Gulf of Mexico? Well, it's technically not flesh, eating, and thankfully, rare. But it's still a scary story. The bacteria vibrio, vulnificus can kill someone within 48 hours. It lives in warm sea water. It can get into the body through, an open wound, even a tiny one like an insect bite. It can cause a life threatening, skin infection called necrotizing fasciitis. The first symptoms usually, show up a few days later. Some people say it feels, like they pulled a muscle, but then the skin gets, red or purple and swells, and the pain gets worse. In addition to the, skin infection, people can have, vomiting and diarrhea. The bacteria move fast, and destroy tissue around the muscles,, nerves, and blood vessels. People may need amputations, to save their life. But remember, severe infections, from vibrio are quite rare. Most deaths are people with, weakened immune systems. People get exposed, to the bacteria through being in the water or, by eating raw oysters, clams, and crabs. To stay safe, the CDC recommends, staying out of the water if you have any wounds,, cooking all shellfish, which kills the bacteria,, and using gloves if you handle any raw seafood. For WebMD, I'm, Dr. Michael Smith.