Man who repaired Harvey-flooded homes dies of flesh-eating bacteria

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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.

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