After the Storm: Deadly Flesh-Eating Infections?

For survivors of Monday’s devastating tornado that killed at least 24 and injured 120 more in suburban Oklahoma, the health threat might not end with the storm.

Survivors may risk contact with Apophysomyces, a swift-moving, devastating fungus that shuts down vital blood flow to tissue, leaving it to rot, as well as other bacterial or viral infections, said David Engelthaler, Director of Programs and Operations at the Translational Genomics Research  Institute’s Pathogen Genomics Division in an interview with Weather.com.

It happened after the May 2011 tornado in Joplin, Mo., a storm which took more than 150 lives. After the storm, five people died from Apophysomyces, with eight more contracting the fungus, according to studies by TGen and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that were published late last year.

The flesh-eating fungus typically lurks in soil, water and wood and doesn’t affect humans. But the EF-5 twister that hit Joplin launched massive debris through the air. Some people who survived the initial tornado were left with deep wounds, which were infected with the fungus when they came in contact with debris.

It's even possible the tornado carried the contaminated soil or debris for miles along its path, researchers wrote in the journal PLOS One.

http://www.wunderground.com/news/infection-oklahoma-tornado-20130522