Exposed tendons and bones. Wounds that attract maggots. A foul smell from dead tissue. Even as more potent drugs have hit the streets, the flesh-rotting animal tranquilizer xylazine is still wreaking havoc across the US. Known as “tranq,” the illegal sedative is often mixed with fentanyl to enhance and extend the high. In 2023, 30% … Read more
A person in Maryland was recently infected by the flesh-eating New World screwworm after traveling to El Salvador, US health officials confirmed this week. The blowflies primarily affect livestock — human cases are rare. In a screwworm infestation, also known as a myiasis, female flies lay eggs in a fresh wound that quickly hatch into … Read more
Let this sink in — a dangerous, salt-obsessed bacterium is wreaking havoc along the Gulf Coast. Several dozen cases of Vibrio vulnificus and nine deaths have been reported so far this year across Florida, Louisiana, North Carolina, Alabama and Mississippi. The rod-shaped bacterium lurks in warm, brackish waters — it can enter your body when … Read more
A type of flesh-eating bacteria has killed four people in Florida so far this year. The state’s health department confirmed the deaths in a notice posted on the Florida Health website. A total of 11 people have contracted the bacteria in 2025, according to the same source. Vibrio vulnificus is part of a wider group of Vibrio … Read more
A threat to American livestock – the New World Screwworm (NWS) fly, which has been considered eradicated from the country since 1966 — has reemerged as a potential danger following an outbreak in Mexico. The news triggered a shutdown of cattle, horse and bison imports along the southern border, as U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Brooke … Read more
” player=”SPdDOYds” platform=”jw-player” playlist=”Toq2ZZoq” playlisttype=”recommendations” placement=”true” /] Sore throats and sour news. A recent study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that the number of potentially life-threatening invasive group A strep infections more than doubled from 2013 to 2022. Most group A strep infections cause mild illnesses like strep throat — but … Read more
A mom was “minutes away from death” and had to learn to walk again after her chest pains turned out to be a flesh-eating bug ravaging her pancreas. Sam Lewis, 38, had been to the doctors three times with a pain in her chest before doctors found a gallstone blocking her bile duct. After being … Read more
A critically ill Connecticut woman has been treated for the same life-threatening, flesh-eating infection that is plaguing Japan. The American patient was admitted to her local hospital after experiencing symptoms of vomiting, diarrhea, shortness of breath, elevated heart rate and low blood pressure. Subsequent medical scans showed fluid buildup in the patient’s lungs as well … Read more
In 2012, Aimee Copeland lost all four limbs in a zip-lining accident that resulted in a flesh-eating bacterial infection. The stunning reversal of fortune led the 36-year-old to dramatically rethink her future — which involved an end to a previous relationship. But the loss was actually her gain — Copeland met the man of her dreams … Read more
A mom of two from Scotland feels “lucky to be alive” after a rare flesh-eating disease left her with a butt wound 20 centimeters deep. It “looks like a peach that someone has taken a huge bite out of on one side,” Tracy de Jongh Eglin, 59, lamented to SWNS. The former events manager, who … Read more
People who value their flesh are being warned to steer clear of Hurricane Idalia floodwaters in Florida, Georgia and the Carolinas. Officials are warning residents that hurricane flooding has spread the flesh-eating bacteria known as Vibrio vulnificus to inland regions where it isn’t usually a threat. A Vibrio infection can cause necrosis — the death … Read more
Jennifer Barlow thought she was suffering from a bad knee sprain — then, she went septic. She had just returned to Atlanta from her vacation in the Bahamas in January when she started to feel weak and experiencing swelling in her right knee. “It was so swollen — it was at least three times the … Read more
Carolyn Gower was like any other healthy woman her age when suddenly she was struck down by a mystery illness that would have killed her if it wasn’t for an eleventh-hour act. The Australian woman was found by her adult children in bed on the evening of March 14 suffering from delirium and a high … Read more
Maybe New York isn’t so bad after all. Beaches in sunny South Florida are experiencing “the perfect ‘pathogen’ storm” of flesh-eating bacteria that are washing up to shore, according to new research from Florida Atlantic University. It’s happening due to a brown and smelly algae known as sargassum, which is intertwining with plastic marine debris … Read more
A former cross-country runner was left disfigured and without a leg after developing this flesh-eating disease. Emma Doherty, 37, fell ill with sepsis in February 2021 – which later turned into necrotizing fasciitis, a serious infection that affects the tissue of your skin, causing it to die. As a result of the disease, the British … Read more
One woman from England was given just hours to live after developing sepsis and a flesh-eating bug following a routine Caesarean section. After Amy Hiner, 40, gave birth to her second child, daughter Evie, she developed necrotizing fasciitis and sepsis from the C-section, causing her to lose half of her stomach. “It just keeps spreading … Read more
A new study has found that the flesh-eating mpox virus is particularly deadly for people living with HIV. Mpox — previously known as “monkeypox” before it was renamed last November amid concerns of racism — infected thousands of people last year, prompting a “public health emergency.” Now, a new study published in the Lancet has … Read more
This quick nap turned into a waking nightmare. A Florida man has ended up blind in one eye after contracting a rare infection from a flesh-eating parasite during a brief snooze. Mike Krumholz, 21, took a 40-minute nap with his contact lenses in on Dec. 19 of last year and woke up with his right … Read more
One mom faced a horrific medical emergency after her daughter’s case of chickenpox turned into a deadly flesh-eating bacteria. Leanne Passey, 31, from England, said that after her daughter, 4-year-old Reign, was diagnosed with the virus, she was left fighting for her life after developing strep A. It caused the little girl’s chickenpox to turn … Read more