An Ohio man nearly lost his foot after a trip to Florida, but he’s not out of the woods yet.
Barry Briggs who hails from Waynesville, Ohio, said he was visiting family in Florida and went for a boating trip to Weedon Island, WCPO reported.
He fell ill after the day on the water. At first, he attributed swelling to sunburn.
But then his foot started to swell. Once he got back home to Ohio, he found out that he had necrotizing fasciitis, or flesh-eating disease. The condition was caused by group A Streptococcus bacteria, according to WCPO.
Credit: CDC/ Sarah Bailey Cutchin
Credit: CDC/ Sarah Bailey Cutchin
The bacteria feeds on the flesh and can be deadly if not treated quickly.
Normally the bacteria enters the body through a cut, but doctors couldn't find any cuts or wounds. But there are cases that can be caused by blunt trauma. It can also be caused by insect bites, according to the CDC.
Briggs was in the hospital for 11 days having skin grafts and being prescribed various antibiotics, WCPO reported.
Briggs said in a Facebook post that there are a few spots that are still questionable, the television station reported.
Brigg’s condition is the second recent case that has made headlines.
A Florida man who was fishing in the Gulf of Mexico was pricked with a fishing hook, nicking his finger. Mike Walton nearly lost his arm, WFTS reported.
The next day he started seeing blisters.
"I had like little blisters starting to form on my hand, and you could watch, like, sweat beads coming up on the side of the hand and then they just turned black," Walton told WFTS.
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