A South Carolina man was infected with a flesh-eating bacteria after walking on seashells, as scientists warn a growing number of similar cases could be linked to climate change.
Brent Norman was strolling along the shores of Sullivan’s Island and the Isle of Palms, near Charleston, South Carolina. in his effort to take between 15,000 and 20,000 steps each day when he stepped on some projectiles in late April.
Days later, the man, worried about his health, felt unbearable pain and said his foot swelled and he could no longer walk.
He went to the emergency room, where a doctor informed him that he had contracted Vibrio, a deadly flesh-eating bacteria that hides in seawater and estuaries.
“It’s maybe like someone stuck a… I don’t know, a nail in my foot,” Norman told WCIV.
Brent Norman (pictured) was infected with a flesh-eating bacteria after stepping on shells while walking on a South Carolina beach.
Days later, the health-conscious man was in excruciating pain and said his foot (pictured) swelled and he could no longer walk.
The flesh around his heel appeared blistered, red and swollen, prompting him to go to the doctor, who informed him that he had contracted Vibrio, a deadly flesh-eating bacteria.
The flesh around his heel appeared blistered, red and swollen, prompting him to go to the doctor.
“Everyone behind the check-in counter was about twice the size of normal. “I noticed that people were uncomfortable sitting around me looking at him,” Norman said.
—He pierced it with a spear and took the remains out of there. And then they gave me an injection of antibiotics and then also pills that I’m taking for two weeks.’
Vibrio vulnificus, which thrives in warm temperatures, is infecting twice as many people on the East Coast compared to 2022, new data released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show.
Scientists say their increase in prevalence is due to the gradual increase in water temperatures near the United States.
The gruesome insect enters the body through cuts and grazes in the skin and begins eating human flesh within 24 hours. Without treatment, the disease can cause necrosis (tissue death) and the fatal blood infection septicemia.
Estimates suggest that approximately one in three infections is fatal.
Experts warned in the CDC report that “Vibrio vulnificus infections are expected to become more common” due to “increasing coastal water temperatures.”
Norman was strolling the shores of Sullivan’s Island (pictured) and the Isle of Palms near Charleston, South Carolina, in his effort to take between 15,000 and 20,000 steps each day when he stepped on some shells in late April.
Norman said once his infection has cleared, he plans to return to his routine of walking on the beach.
“I’ve grown up on beaches my whole life and probably stepped on over ten thousand shells,” Norman said.
‘My reward is living on the beach and I intend to continue doing so. Go as soon as my foot is healed. I’ll go back to the beach.’
Millions of Americans were warned to be careful at the beach over Labor Day weekend last year due to the risk of contracting Vibrio bacteria.
Experts told DailyMail.com that anyone with an open wound should avoid swimming in waters where Vibrio has been identified.
Dr. Luis Ostrosky, an infectious disease expert at UTHealth Houston in Texas, said this was a “very, very aggressive bacteria.”
He told DailyMail.com: ‘If you have any cuts, don’t go in the water.
‘You should be very attentive to cuts and not immerse yourself in seawater if you have any of them.
“If you are immunocompromised, diabetic or have cirrhosis of the liver, it is not a good idea to go swimming (in the ocean) at this time.”