This is horrid. I also saw this in an Atlanta paper about a month ago and they blamed it on some kind of strep germ.
Flesh-eating disease in New Brunswick
SAINT JOHN, N.B. (CP) - Health officials in New Brunswick placed a hospital patient in isolation and five others under observation on the weekend after the flesh-eating disease claimed the life of one person.
The steps were taken after the bacterial infection, also known as necrotizing fasciitis, killed an unidentified patient in Saint John on Friday.
The second patient, who has also been diagnosed with the disease, was in listed in serious condition Sunday at the Saint John Regional hospital, according to officials with the Atlantic Health Sciences Corp.
Officials have yet to determine the source of the infection.
The bacteria that causes the disease consumes flesh, often leading to amputation or death. It can be transmitted through body secretions exchanged during close contact, such as kissing.
"That particular strain is a very aggressive strain, it acts differently in different individuals," said spokeswoman Patricia Crowdis.
The only link found between the two infected individuals so far is that they were both treated at St. Joseph's hospital in Saint John last week.
"That's the only similarity we've found," said Crowdis. "And it's not even enough to be called a link."
It was initially reported that a 37-year-old woman had died, however officials later said the health authority would not provide any information about either patient.
When the condition spreads into the muscle tissue, it is called necrotizing myositis. Death can occur within 12 to 24 hours of infection.
The patient who died Friday passed away less than a day after they had started to receive treatment.
Meanwhile, officials have contacted everyone who was a patient at the day-surgery unit on Monday and Tuesday. That's when the two infected patients received medical attention.
"We have instituted precautions to contain the spread of this infection and now feel the situation is under control as no new cases have developed," Dr. James O'Brien, head of the Atlantic Health Sciences Corp., said in a news release.
The five patients under observation are being treated with antibiotics as a preventive measure.
"As of today, none of those patients are exhibiting symptoms," said Crowdis.
The incubation period for the flesh-eating disease is believed to be about three days.
Public health officials usually monitor at-risk patients for double that length of time, which means it could be four days before the five at-risk patients are released.
Crowdis said health officials were "confident in our sterilization procedure in our instruments."
Last April, a woman in Ottawa and a man in Montreal died within days of each other after both were infected with the flesh-eating disease in separate incidents.
Former Quebec premier Lucien Bouchard was forced to have his left leg amputated in 1994 after he was afflicted with the disease.
http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Canada/2004/05/02/444843-cp.htmlThere was also a Promed report on a clinic in South America, where folks have been going for 'tummy tucks' and it is passing on the same disease, if my memory is correct.
2 or 3 years ago, it got loose in the U.S., there were several cases of it in the L.A. calif area.