Flesh-eating bacteria kills Texas man infected after fishing along Gulf Coast

A 66-year-old Texas man died of an infection caused by a flesh-eating bacteria he contracted while fishing along the Gulf Coast.

The man, identified to KHOU-TV as Randy Bunch by relatives, was crabbing and fishing in Freeport when he stepped into shallow water off a boat ramp to retrieve a crab trap.

His daughter, Brandy Pendergraft, of Pearland, told the news station that her father had not noticed a small, days-old scrape on his right foot. A few hours later, Bunch was in pain and went to the emergency room, she told the Houston-area outlet.

When the doctor could not find anything wrong, Bunch was released and went home, she said. By the next morning, he had a 104-degree fever and was disoriented. Bunch returned to a hospital, where doctors determined he had contracted vibrio bacteria.

“The blisters were taking over his whole body,” Pendergraft told KHOU. “It was spreading. Just like a fire.”

Bunch died in June, less than a week after he stepped into the water, his daughter said.

So far this year, Brazoria County has reported nine cases of vibrio infections, compared to seven in 2023, Cathy Sbrusch, director of the county’s public health services, said in an email.

Authorities in neighboring Galveston County warned this month that an outbreak of the flesh-eating bacteria along Texas’ Gulf Coast has infected nearly a dozen people.

Vibrio bacteria occur naturally in coastal waters, including salt water and brackish water, a mixture of salt and fresh water. It is found in higher concentrations from May to October when water temperatures are warmer.

Vibrio can cause two kinds of illnesses. The more common is caused by eating raw or undercooked shellfish, particularly oysters. Symptoms include abdominal cramps, diarrhea, nausea, vomiting and dehydration.

The other, potentially more serious infection occurs when an open wound comes into contact with coastal waters. Most of the cases in Galveston were the result of contact with water, a spokesperson for the Galveston County Health Department said in an email Friday.

Symptoms can include fever and redness, pain, swelling, warmth, discoloration and discharge of fluid around the wound, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the worst cases, the bacteria can lead to necrotizing fasciitis, a severe infection in which the flesh around an open wound dies, which is why vibrio is frequently called a “flesh-eating bacteria.” Such severe infections are rare and tend to occur in people with pre-existing conditions that cause weakened immune systems, health authorities say.

Galveston officials said in the release they are working to identify the source of the infections and implement measures to prevent additional cases.

The CDC estimates roughly 80,000 cases of vibrio occur in the U.S. each year, with more than half of those caused by eating contaminated food.

Vibrio infections have caused a handful of deaths in and around Texas. In 2017, a 31-year-old Dallas man with a chronic liver disease died after flesh-eating bacteria from the Gulf of Mexico entered his body through a new tattoo on his leg.

The same year, a 31-year-old Texas man died of an infection contracted while repairing Hurricane Harvey-damaged homes in Galveston, and a Texas woman died after eating raw oysters in Louisiana.

2024 The Dallas Morning News. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.