"Flesh-eating" bacterium cases hit record high in Japan

Streptococcal toxic shock syndrome, a potentially deadly disease caused by a "flesh-eating" bacterium, is spreading rapidly in Japan, with cases in the first half of this year already surpassing last year's record, a national infectious disease institute said Tuesday.There have been 977 cases of the disease caused by the bacterium called streptococcus pyogenes which is often associated with strep throat but occasionally leads to limb necrosis and multiple organ failure.The number of people infected has already topped last year's 941, the highest annual number of cases tallied since mandator…READ FULL ARTICLE