It is more effective in killing USA citizens than it's enemies are.

http://www.newsday.com/news/health/officials-nyc-legionnaires-disease-cases-now-at-124-1.10742654


Quote:

New York City's worst-ever Legionnaires' disease outbreak has now sickened 124 people, the de Blasio administration said Saturday. The previous tally had been 121, although no new diagnoses have been made since Aug. 3. Reports of Legionnaires' cases often take several days reach the health department. The latest five cases, like the others, are clustered in the South Bronx.

There also seems to be a lot of cases of people dying or needing multiple amputations for flesh eating bacterial infections like the one below. Others in USA have received infections from swimming at a beach.

Seems to be a lot of risk for such illnesses in USA. I have not heard of people suffering such problems in Australia, or even Asia where I have visited multiple countries.

Apologies for photo below:

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/3a/Post_surgical_debridement_and_skin_grafting..jpg/220px-Post_surgical_debridement_and_skin_grafting..jpg

http://www.foxnews.com/health/2015/08/14/oklahoma-woman-has-both-arms-legs-amputated-after-tick-bite/


Quote:

A woman who contracted a potentially deadly disease after unknowingly being bitten by a tick during a July vacation in northeast Oklahoma had to have her arms and legs amputated. KOCO reported that Jo Rogers, 40, had her right leg amputated, her left leg amputated below the knee and her arms amputated below both elbows to stop the disease, called Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever (RMSF), from spreading. Rogers was vacationing at Grand Lake o’ the Cherokees, a 46,500-acre lake in the foothills of the Ozark Mountain Range in northeast Oklahoma that is well known for its bass fishing. Four days after returning from her vacation, Rogers thought she had a flu, but after her symptoms didn’t subside on the fifth day, she went to the hospital, where doctors tested her for West Nile virus and meningitis. Both tests came back negative. "She was shaking her hands because they hurt, her feet hurt," Rogers’ cousin Lisa Morgan told KOCO. Rogers’ limbs turned black and blue. On the seventh day after her return, doctors found she had been bitten by a tick and infected with RMSF. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), symptoms of the disease start two to 14 days after the bite and include headache, fever, abdominal pain, vomiting, and muscle pain. Outpatient medication may help those treated early, while intravenous antibiotics, prolonged hospitalization or intensive care may be required for those with more severe cases. Oklahoma is one of five states where the infection rate for the disease is three to 10 times the national average. But according to the Oklahoma State Department of Health, only 1 to 3 percent of the tick population is infected with the bacteria Rickettsia rickettsii (R. rickettsii), which causes RMSF. The tick most commonly associated with RMSF is the American dog tick, Dermacentor variabilis. The Oklahoma State Department of Health estimates that 3 to 5 percent of people with RMSF die, but death is uncommon with immediate diagnosis and treatment.

Cases of flesh eating bacteria victims are reported frequently in USA news. However the bacteria appears to be spreading internationally. It is possible the cases in USA are more severe because of the medical system in the USA where people delay treatment until they are sure it is serious because medical costs in USA are high even if the patient has medical insurance.

Perhaps elsewhere in the world the victims get earlier treatment which prevents the condition becoming limb and life threatening.


Quote:

New flesh-eating bacteria is rapidly spreading globally. The new bacteria is closely related to the organisms that cause strep throat and pink eye. By: Bryan Nelson July 21, 2015, 4:19 a.m. Scientists have discovered a new variant of the group of bacteria known to cause illnesses such as strep throat, pink eye and meningitis, but this new strain might be the most nefarious of them all: It's a flesh-eater. The deadly bacteria, which could kill up to one in four patients that develop necrotising fasciitis from it, has likely been hiding in plain sight for decades, and it might have already gone global. Cases have been reported in places as far-reaching as Canada, Japan, the United Kingdom, Sweden and France. Researchers at Imperial College London, together with colleagues at Public Health England, first caught wind of the new bacteria after noticing a sharp rise in infections from 1998 to 2009 caused by a particular strain of Streptococcus bacteria called emm89. After sequencing the genomes of bacterial samples from patients, they noticed that a new strain of emm89 had emerged, and was responsible for the surge in cases. The new strain is particularly unusual due to two unique features: It has completely lost its outer capsule, and it produces more toxin, according to a press release by Imperial College London. Scientists are particularly perplexed by the strain's lack of an outer capsule, since the typical Streptococcus requires its outer shell in order to survive and transmit disease. Not only does the new strain survive without its capsule, it thrives. "We know that without capsule, they stick better to surfaces, so that may help them to transmit more easily," said Dr. Claire Turner at Imperial College London, who led the study. "Another possibility is that they can more easily get inside human cells, which makes them harder to treat." Though the news sounds terrifying, there is a silver lining. The new strain is still quite vulnerable to standard antibiotics, such as penicillin. So treatment is not complicated. Even so, with the rise of antibiotic-resistant superbugs worldwide, caution should be exercised in how the new strain is dealt with. "We also need to think about whether our treatment strategies are as good as they can be," said Professor Shiranee Sriskandan, senior author on the study. Read more: http://www.mnn.com/health/fitness-well-being/stories/new-flesh-eating-bacteria-rapidly-spreading-globally#ixzz3j2W6Wczo