Elderly woman dies after contracting flesh-eating infection in Hurricane Harvey floodwaters

Hurricane Harvey floodwaters.
(Image credit: Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty Images)

A 77-year-old Houston woman who fell into contaminated floodwaters during Hurricane Harvey and contracted a flesh-eating infection has died, Texas officials said.

Nancy Reed died Sept. 15, becoming the 36th Harvey-related death in Texas, the Harris County Institute of Forensic Science said. Reed was wounded when she fell inside her flooded home, and she contracted necrotizing fasciitis, a skin infection that kills the body's soft tissue, NBC News reports. This is a rare disease, with just 700 to 1,100 cases reported in the U.S. every year. Because the bacteria spread fast, if not treated quickly, the infection is deadly.

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia is night editor for TheWeek.com. Her writing and reporting has appeared in Entertainment Weekly and EW.com, The New York Times, The Book of Jezebel, and other publications. A Southern California native, Catherine is a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.