A flesh-eating bacteria that was said to be found in areas with a warm climate year round, has now been contracted in South Jersey. According to Patch.com, "Five people have recently been treated in New Jersey – and one person has died – for what's commonly known as "flesh-eating bacteria," or Vibrio..."

This bacteria is found on the east coast in the southern states. Vibrio usually thrives from the Chesapeake Bay and south, with it rarely making its way to the Delaware Bay. The bacteria lives in warm brackish water.

Five New Jersey patients contracted the disease from July 2017 to September 2018 and range from 38 to 64-year- old. Three of the five got Vibrio while crabbing in the Delaware Bay. All five are thought to have contact with crabs at the time.

A 64-year-old man died after getting this flesh-eating bacteria. The man had untreated hepatitis C and experienced extreme pain and swelling in his right hand; two days prior he had been cleaning and eating Delaware Bay crabs.

All 5 patients had other illnesses; two with hepatitis B, one with hepatitis B, one has type 2 diabetes, and one has Parkinson disease.

Vibrio enters the body through cuts in the skin or after eating seafood. Both ways that the bacteria enters your body can end up getting into your bloodstream. The death rate once it reaches the bloodstream or enters from a cut is very high.

Source: Patch.com

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