Health officials say the death this month of a 31-year-old Galveston man is the result of Hurricane Harvey because he was doing repair work to clean up from the storm when he contracted a flesh-eating bacterial infection.
Josue Zurita went to the hospital Oct. 10 with a serious infection to his arm and died six days later.
Dr. Philip Keiser with the Galveston County Health District says bacteria from Harvey debris or floodwater entered the man’s body through a wound or cut.
Zurita, a carpenter, was working on repairing damaged homes when he contracted the rare infection, which kills soft tissue.
State and local authorities have tallied at least 80 Harvey-related deaths in flood-affected areas since the storm hit Aug. 25.
This is the second recorded death due to flesh-eating bacteria related to Hurrican Harvey. In September, a Texas woman died after contracting a flesh-eating infection from floodwaters, according to health officials in Houston.
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A woman died of a flesh-eating infection from Hurricane Harvey floodwaters
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