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Flesh eating bacteria consumes cruise passenger in 24 hours

by Scott Carmichael (RSS feed) on May 7th 2009 at 2:00PM

Have you had your breakfast/lunch/dinner yet? Because this story is bound to upset your stomach.

While on a Mediterranean cruise, 58 year old Raymond Evans hurt his knee during a fall. The injury was nothing serious, but the ships doctor put Mr. Evans on an antibiotic regimen, just to be safe.

Despite the shots, his widow said his condition started to deteriorate, and that the back of his knee was turning black. This developed into a "blotchy blackness" that spread to his chest, elbow and fingers, and he was admitted into the ships hospital.

When the ship docked in Alexandria, Egypt, Mr.Evans was transported to the intensive care unit of the city's hospital where he died hours later. The total time from noticing the blackness on his knee till death was just 24 hours.

A pathologist told the official inquiry that Mr.Evans had been infected by the flesh-eating bug necrotising fasciitis (warning: graphic images on that page!).

The pathologist concluded that Mr.Evans had not caught the bug during his fall, because the symptoms of the flesh eating bug usually start hours after being infected, so the most probable source was something on the cruise ship that entered through his wounds.

This is of course just another example of the health risks involved with cruise ships. For years, cruise lines have struggled with the norovirus as we previously covered here, here and here. Still, common sense and basic hygiene precautions should help keep you perfectly safe when you get on board.

The cruise ship photo above is for illustrative purposes only - that is not necessarily the ship involved in this incident.

Gallery: More horrible travel accidents from around the globe

Filed under: Europe, News, Travel Health, Cruises

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 5)

Marian May 7th 2009 8:54PM

"Just be sure to stay away from any flesh eating bacteria and zombies."

Why do 'journalists' these days have to be cute and insert themselves into stories all the time? I will miss old-fashioned quality journalism that stuck to the facts and to clear language with no extranious 'cute' commentary (see above)!!! This piece is well written except for the last paragraph. I would have, though, preferred the article to have started with the word "have". Or would that have been too old-fashioned?

Jeff May 7th 2009 2:38PM

You gotta stop looking for news from blogs, sweetie. Bloggers are not journalists...yet. I got a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach that with newspapers failing and blogs exploding that the former will pick up these bad habits in an effort to survive.

gd May 7th 2009 3:08PM

I'm sure the last paragraph written by the cheap hack, mr. carmichael, was of great comfort to the Widow Evans. Where do you find such churlish writers?

Cory May 7th 2009 4:28PM

I totally agree with you Marian. That comment irked me too! For something that serious that was not the right thing to print for sure.

Josephine Burnette May 7th 2009 2:47PM

This is horrible news. That ship needs to be disinfected. I have known several passengers on cruise ships that never experienced getting a bacteria flesh eating menace. There has to be more to this story!

jim May 7th 2009 2:22PM

I have heard of this before, some yrs ago on the eastern seaboard fish & people who used the local waters & in the ocean were found to contract some form of virus that literally ate holes in their bodys & in Az area people who went swimming in local ponds & lakes were found to have inhaled some form of bacteria that literally ate their insides. Contaminates in the waters, virus's & bacteria ,mutating ,are constantly showing up all over this country. Is it not possible that these items are being put in our waters by UNFRIENDLYS. I have always thought that it would be more beneficial for a terrorist to contaminate our water supplys than a bomb. It could also be from all the illegal dumping that has been going on for decades. We dropped live nuclear waste w/ a 10k life span in drums that may have a 10 yr life span in our oceans & ELSEWHERE. What do you think is going to crawl out of these waters down the road? In the 60's thru the 80's countless co's were caught dumping hazardous materials all over the country, think of all that weren't caught.Look what 20/20 & HBO specials have shown us, entire towns & communitys wiped out, lives lost, cover ups, forced to leave their homes & communitys, all for the almighty DOLLAR !!!

jewjewbeed May 15th 2009 7:07PM

you are smart!

Nancy May 7th 2009 2:23PM

Why did you not mention when this happened and on which cruise ship so potential cruise vacationers could avoid a ship with a portentially dangerous virus. How do you know that the man did not contact this virus before he boarded the ship? Your reporting of the matter is alot incomplete..more for shock appeal than answers.

Scott Carmichael May 7th 2009 2:25PM

I can answer that; the name of the ship and cruise line were not released in the inquiry, so I had nothing to report.

As the article states - according to the pathologist, this infection spread so fast, that it had to be something he caught on the ship, the timeline does not make it possible that he picked it up during his fall, or before he boarded.

Logan May 7th 2009 5:05PM

Its not a virus. All of you idiots you think its a virus need to learn more about microorganisms and pathogen particulate matter.

william trexler May 7th 2009 6:30PM

The virus doesn't work that way shows itself in first 24 hours

fleurdelis May 7th 2009 3:33PM

Please know that I could come in contact with the same thing this gentleman did, fallen and scraped my knee in the same exact place and I wouldn't have been infected with N. F. Some people are going to get N..F. and some are not. Yes, washing your hands is a good thing. Yes, all cruise ships should go overboard cleaning common areas and the areas in which are not occupied by the average passenger...but, you should not go through your day, thinking this could happen to me. It's been around for a long time, the media just likes to exploit things that make us worry. Have a great day, pray for those who have it and look both ways before you cross the street.

Vicki May 7th 2009 6:43PM

The article states he had "shots" of antibiotics. Duh... it was a dirty needle that infected him. A co-worker of mine almost died from contracting this through a hospital procedure when they inserted a needle for a biopsy. She went in for a small procedure and left 6 months later with a gaping hole in her side, lucky to be alive.

Amanda May 7th 2009 2:37PM

To add some credibility to your "story," why don't you add facts, like what cruise line this was, etc.

MM May 7th 2009 2:43PM

This virus is everywhere, cruise ships, planes, office buildings, basketball courts. It all depends on the opportunity the virus has to get inside a host, and how hospitable that person is to the virus. My cousin nearly lost her foot to necrotising fasciitis. She wasn't on a cruise ship, it started as a blister, the virus got in the wound, 24 hours later she was in the ER, 6 hours after that in surgery. She's diabetic and it doesn't help, the guy in the story could have been as well. Sugar feeds this virus and helps it spread rapidly. The infection could have killed my cousin in about 72 hours had she not been in the hospital as early as she was. It is one of those chance things you can't predict or prevent.

Gary May 8th 2009 2:11PM

Man, I can't believe how idiots like you read these articles and still cannot differintiate between bacteria and virus. This is not a virus, it is a bacterial infection. Calling this a virus is like calling a tomatoe a vegetable. Please go back to school and get a proper education before posting your idiotic comments here.

Tess May 7th 2009 2:43PM

The thing about most bacteria involved in this type of infection, is that some people carry it on with them on soil from their shoes, or even in their body. The common location for cultures are in the nares (in the nostrils). Some people carry the bacteria, and don't have a problem. Others, including myself, may have a startling development of a MRSA. The horrible thing about a MRSA, is that it can kill quickly, unless you are given a very strong antibiotic appropriate to the bacteria. I am talking more than $1,000 for a treatment. It has to be recognized, cultured and treated the moment you think you have an infection that is out of the ordinary.
The most fatalities occur due to a failure to recognize an infection that won't go away without extrordinary measures, within that 24 hour period.

Healthygina May 8th 2009 7:34AM

MRSA is deadly after a while, not immediately and as dangerous as you make it sound. It just needs some Vancomycin, I treat pt's with MRSA every day, stop trying to scare people.

WILL May 7th 2009 3:07PM

I AM a journalist, a legit one. Daily newspapers, wire services, etc. And I agree with the statement about avoiding it.

I had it.

26 surgeries and 21 of 23 months in hospitals later (mostly in shock-trrauma, ICU and almost alwats in isolation) I left the hospital. My right leg below the knee was gone, and I was down to 124 lbs -- at 6-2 and a former college linebacker.

The critter (as I call it) almost got my heart, and I needed a bypass to replace damaged arteries.

Mine was something weird and specual, but most are caused by a strep infection very similar to the sore throat germ.