Kingwood woman confirmed as Harvey death from flesh-eating bacteria Woman infected in flood-ravaged home 
 
 
 
 >>Remembering those we lost during Hurricane Harvey. less Nancy Reed, 77, died on Sept. 15 of “flood-necrotizing fasciitis” complicating blunt trauma of an upper extremity via an accident, according to the Harris County Institute of Forensic Sciences. She is the county’s 36th official Harvey-related death. The Kingwood woman fell in her flooded home and died from flesh-eating bacteria acquired through the injury. Her death was added on Sept. 25 to Harris County’s official list of storm fatalities. Nancy Reed, 77, died on Sept. 15 of “flood-necrotizing fasciitis” complicating blunt trauma of an upper extremity via an accident, according to the Harris County Institute of Forensic Sciences. She is the ... more Photo: Courtesy Of Family Photo: Courtesy Of Family Image 1 of / 60 Caption Close Kingwood woman confirmed as Harvey death from flesh-eating bacteria 1 / 60 Back to Gallery 
 
 A Kingwood woman who became ill after falling into Harvey floodwaters at home died from flesh-eating bacteria, the Harris County medical examiner's office ruled. 
 
 Nancy Reed, 77, died on Sept. 15 of flood-related necrotizing fasciitis, an infection that spreads quickly through muscle tissue and can cause organ failure. 
 
 Reed was the second known case of the bacteria related to the floodwaters from Hurricane Harvey. Rescuer J.R. Atkins, a former firefighter and medic, was contaminated through an insect bite on his arm while helping Missouri City neighbors. He survived. 
 
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 "It's tragic," said Dr. David Persse, director of the city's emergency medical services. "This is one of the things we'd been worrying about once the flooding began, that something like this might occur. My heart goes out to the family." 
 
 According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, necrotizing fasciitis is a serious bacterial skin infection that kills the body's soft tissue, spreads quickly and can be fatal in a short time. Prompt diagnosis and treatment with antibiotics can prevent death. 
 
 The infection is not considered a reportable disease in Texas, meaning doctors or laboratories who diagnose it are not required to alert health authorities. But they are required to report many of the organisms that cause the disease — streptococcus, E. coli, vibrio vulnificus and certain types of drug-resistant staphylococcus. 
 
 Strep is the most common cause of flesh-eating bacteria. Vibrio is the most common in salt water. 
 
 Since 2010, the CDC has documented 700 to 1,100 cases of necrotizing fasciitis annually caused by group A strep, but details were not immediately available how many deaths were caused by the infection. 
 
 Reed fell at her son's home in Kingwood, breaking and cutting her arm, according to a family friend. After the injury became infected, she was treated at Memorial Hermann Hospital - The Woodlands and then taken to Memorial Hermann Hospital - Texas Medical Center, where she died. 
 
 The Harris County Institute of Forensic Sciences concluded that the infection complicated the blunt trauma to her arm. Reed is the county's 36th death to be officially linked to Hurricane Harvey and its aftermath, which contributed to more than 75 deaths statewide. 
 
 Reed was remembered during a memorial service on Friday at First Presbyterian Church of Kingwood. 
 
 According to her obituary, Reed was a community volunteer and chief executive of the LivingTributes.com website of online memorials to the deceased. She was widowed with one son, John Reed. 
 
 Born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on Jan. 4, 1940, she was a former elementary school teacher and worked at The Reed Agency with her husband, Gary, until he died in 1999. She was also president of the Reed Foundation. 
 
 "Nancy was a kind, caring member of the Kingwood community and gave of her time and many talents generously," her obituary said. 
 
 She was active in her church, serving on multiple committees, and worked with the Village Learning and Achievement Center and the Upbring Krause Children's Center. 
 
 Her relatives could not be reached for comment. ||||| A homeowner dumps flood-damaged debris on his front yard in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey at the Canyon Gate community in Katy, Tex., in September. (AP) 
 
 A 31-year-old Texas man died of a rare flesh-eating bacterial infection last week, nearly two months after Hurricane Harvey made landfall and the man began repairing homes damaged by the floods. 
 
 On Monday, the Galveston County Health District said the man went to a hospital on Oct. 10 with a “seriously” infected wound on his upper left arm. He was diagnosed with necrotizing fasciitis — a rare bacterial infection that kills soft tissue — and died six days later. 
 
 The Houston news channel KHOU identified the man as Josue Zurita. An obituary said Zurita was a hard-working carpenter who left Mexico to help provide for his family, and that he became infected while working to rebuild Harris and Galveston counties. 
 
 “He's a very caring person,” Brenda Avalos, the wife of one of Zurita's cousins, told KHOU. “He has a lot of friends here in Galveston that love him. Everybody is very sad. He was very young and always smiling.” 
 
 [Houston spent massively on new stadiums, not its aging dams. As Harvey proved, that was a very bad.] 
 
 Philip Keiser, the local health authority for Galveston County, said in a news release published by the health district that the infection most likely occurred when bacteria from hurricane debris or floodwater entered the man’s body through a wound or cut. This case was the only known instance of necrotizing fasciitis in Galveston County related to Hurricane Harvey, according to the news release. 
 
 Keiser told CNN that he has seen such infections spread over mere hours. 
 
 “Even in one case, as I was examining a patient, I could see the red spread in the minutes I was examining him, and that's the real danger to it,” Keiser said. “As it spreads, it's going up the space between the muscle and skin, and as it does that, it kills all the nerves and the blood vessels can clot.” 
 
 Harvey made landfall as a Category 4 hurricane late on the night of Aug. 25. Analysts described the storm as a 1-in-1,000-year flood event that dominated huge swaths of Southeast Texas. In mid-September, Texas officials said more than 80 people had died as a result of the storm and the subsequent flooding throughout Houston and coastal areas, though it would take weeks to determine an exact death toll. 
 
 Infectious disease after a flood is typically a short-term concern, as The Post's Ben Guarino reported last month. In September 2005, shortly after Hurricane Katrina struck New Orleans, the CDC reported 30 cases of MRSA, an antibiotic-resistant staphylococcus bacterium, among a group of evacuees sent to Dallas. 
 
 Tetanus booster shots can be one means of defense against infectious diseases. The health district's news release also noted that proper wound care is vital to preventing infections. That includes keeping wounds covered with clean, dry bandages until they heal, and seeking medical attention for any redness, swelling or fever. Even minor, noninfected wounds — like blisters or scrapes — should be treated immediately. 
 
 [Texans’ do-it-ourselves rescue effort defines Hurricane Harvey] 
 
 Stress also has a negative effect on the immune system, and ensuring food hygiene can be especially difficult in disaster zones. People’s risk of getting sick increases further when they are packed into crowded areas, like a mega-shelter, after a natural disaster. 
 
 The CDC warns against eating or drinking anything contaminated by floodwater that can cause diarrheal disease, such as E. coli or salmonella infection. 
 
 CNN reported that on Sept. 15, a 77-year-old woman, Nancy Reed, also died of flesh-eating bacteria near Houston. A medical examiner report said the cause of the Reed's death was necrotizing fasciitis. Reed was helping her son clear out his home when she accidentally injured herself and contracted the disease, according to an associate pastor at the church that hosted Reed’s memorial service. 
 
 One man, J.R. Atkins, told KHOU earlier this month that he was fighting flesh-eating bacteria. Atkins, a former first responder, wrote on Facebook about how he “nearly died” after noticing a small bite on his left arm that gradually swelled to his hand. Atkins spent time in the ICU after kayaking through his neighborhood checking on people affected by the floods. 
 
 On Facebook, Zurita was remembered his for his smile and willingness to help his neighbors. 
 
 “I'll never forget sitting on the front porch playing Lotteria [Mexican Bingo]," read one post. 
 
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 Clinton campaign, DNC paid for research that led to Russia dossier ||||| (CNN) Hurricane Harvey has claimed another victim, about two months after making landfall in Texas . 
 
 A 31-year-old man died last week after being diagnosed with a rare flesh-eating bacterial infection known as necrotizing fasciitis, the Galveston County Health District announced Monday. 
 
 The man has been identified as Josue Zurita, according to the Houston Chronicle , and he was helping repair several homes damaged by flooding from Harvey. 
 
 Zurita went to the hospital on October 10 with a seriously infected wound on his upper left arm and was diagnosed with necrotizing fasciitis, according to the Galveston County Health District. 
 
 In an obituary on the Galveston-based Carnes Brothers Funeral Home's website , Zurita was called a "loving father and hard-working carpenter" who moved to the United States from Mexico to help his family and "remained to help with the rebuilding after hurricane Harvey." 
 
 Zurita's death follows that of Nancy Reed, a 77-year-old Houston-area woman who died in September from necrotizing fasciitis related to Harvey floodwaters. 
 
 J.R. Atkins, a former first responder, also contracted a flesh-eating bacterial infection but survived, according to CNN affiliate KTRK . He had been kayaking through floodwaters to check on neighbors affected by the hurricane, according to a Facebook post in September 
 
 "We're surprised we saw three of them in the region, but given the exposure to all the construction and potential injuries that people would have ... it shouldn't be surprising. It's well within what we would expect given those numbers," said Dr. Philip Keiser, the Galveston County local health authority. 
 
 Yet such infections as necrotizing fasciitis are very rare, Keiser said. Since 2010, about 700 to 1,100 cases occur each year in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 
 
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 Several types of bacteria can cause necrotizing fasciitis, according to the National Institutes of Health . Such an infection can spread quickly and kills the body's soft tissue, especially if it infects a wound that is not properly cared for, Keiser said. The infection also can become lethal within a short amount of time. 
 
 "What happens is, you get some kind of break in the skin, and in that area -- between the skin and the muscle -- it's a fairly open space where the bacteria can grow," Keiser said. 
 
 "I have seen these things spread over hours. Even in one case, as I was examining a patient, I could see the red spread in the minutes I was examining him, and that's the real danger to it," Keiser said. "As it spreads, it's going up the space between the muscle and skin, and as it does that, it kills all the nerves and the blood vessels can clot." 
 
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 To prevent such deadly infections, proper wound care is key, according to Keiser and the CDC. 
 
 Keep open wounds covered with clean, dry bandages until they heal, especially if you are working in floodwaters, and avoid contact with natural bodies of water if you have an open wound. Don't delay treating minor, non-infected wounds, and wash hands often with soap and water. 
 
 Also, if you notice any redness or swelling of a wound, or if you have a fever, seek medical attention.
– A Texas woman fell into Hurricane Harvey floodwaters at her son's home and ended up dead from flesh-eating bacteria. Nancy Reed, 77, is the second known person to contract flood-related necrotizing fasciitis after Harvey, the Houston Chronicle reports. She died Sept. 15, but the Harris County medical examiner's office just ruled on her cause of death. The quick-spreading infection, which can cause organ failure and death in a short amount of time, also hit rescuer JR Atkins while he was helping his neighbors; he contracted it through an insect bite but survived. "This is one of the things we'd been worrying about once the flooding began, that something like this might occur," says the director of the city's emergency medical services. "It's tragic." When Reed fell, she broke and cut her arm, and the injury got infected, a family friend says. The medical examiner's office concluded the infection caused complications related to "blunt trauma of an upper extremity," the Dallas News reports. A doctor warns KTRK that even after floodwaters recede, the dangerous bacteria can remain on anything floodwaters touched.