The outbreak of several flesh-eating disease cases on Vancouver Island in recent months poses no risk to Olympic Peninsula residents, health officials said Monday.
“There is no concern whatsoever that this is going to be carried across the water,” said Shelby Chamberlain, spokeswoman for the Vancouver Island Health Authority.
Sixteen cases of invasive streptococcus A, the infection that can cause the flesh-eating disease, have been reported on Vancouver Island since September.
Of those cases, six people have contracted necrotizing fasciitis, as the disease is formally called.
Two have died.
Two new cases of the bacterial infection have been confirmed since Friday — an elderly man and a middle-aged woman, both from areas north of Victoria.
Officials admit that they’re not sure where the bacterium came from or how it got on Vancouver Island.
The rest of this story appears in today’s Peninsula Daily News. Click on “Subscribe” to get the PDN delivered to your home or office.