Man Dies from Flesh Eating Bacteria Infection

A man from Arizona, infected with a flesh eating bacteria, died after four days. His family described the experience was “like a horror movie.”

Michael Funk just returned home from his Ocean City, Maryland condominium after cleaning crab pots last September 11. Funk fell ill and was taken to a hospital, where a surgeon removed infected skin from his leg. Then he was taken to a trauma hospital in Baltimore to get his infected leg operated on and later, amputated, DelmarvaNow reported.

Michael’s wife Marcia Funk told DelmarvaNow, “It was very fast moving,”  she added, “He was in so much pain.”

Funk added that Ocean City failed to give an adequate warning about spreading Vibrio Vunificus bacteria.

“I really feel they kept it quiet because it’s a tourist resort,” she told DelmarvaNow. “It’s like something out of a horror movie.”

Ocean City spokeswoman Jessica Waters told DelmarvaNow that they have made outreach and education campaigns, but never about the bacteria. She added the bacteria, “has never been part of our awareness efforts, at least to my knowledge.”

In 2014, state officials issued an advisory about an outbreak of bacteria that infected 57 people in 2013.

Infected through wound

Vibrio Vunificus is a bacteria most commonly found in warm, brackish waters with low salinity. According to Centers for Diseases Control and Prevention, a person can be infected by either consuming raw or undercooked seafood, or in Funk’s case, from entering through a wound cut.

Funk’s widow told Delmarva now, “He loved the water, he loved boating, and he loved crabbing.”

 

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