Lagos - A flesh-eating bacterial disease has
infected another Washington, D.C.-area man,
local media reported on Thursday, just days
after a man was released from a hospital
following a near-deadly bout with the germ.
Joe Wood of Stafford, Virginia, said he was
swimming in the Potomac River near the
town of Callao earlier this month when a
scratch on his left leg became infected with
vibrio vulnificus, an aggressive bacteria that
feeds on flesh, Washington D.C.'s WTOP
radio reported.
Wood was admitted to the Mary Washington
Hospital in Fredericksburg on July 5 where
an infectious disease specialist performed
skin graft surgery on Tuesday, the report
said. Doctors told the radio station that
Wood would likely survive.
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The report could not be immediately
confirmed as the hospital did not return
repeated calls by a Reuters reporter on
Thursday.
The news comes just days after a 66-year-old
Maryland man was released from a hospital
after nearly losing a leg and his life to the
flesh-eating bacterial infection that he
contracted in Chesapeake Bay earlier in the
month.
The bacterial strain causes severe illness
characterized by fever and chills, septic
shock and lesions. Symptoms include
vomiting and diarrhea.
Vibrio cases are on the rise in the region. In
a 2009 study, the Chesapeake Bay
Foundation found that the increase in
infections was linked to pollution and
unusually hot summers
In Maryland, the number of all vibrio cases,
including the strain that afflicted the two
men, reached 57 last year, a 10-year high,
according to the Maryland Department of
Health and Mental Hygiene.
Virginia had eight vibrio vulnificus cases last
year, according to the Virginia Department of
Health. There have been 27 cases involving
vibrio species overall so far this year.
Nationwide, there are as many as 95 cases of
vibrio vulnificus infections each year, 35 of
which result in death, according to CDC
statistics.

This one na America's version of ebola.

At least you could have added a picture @op