Flesh-Eating Bacteria Found in Massachusetts Beach With 1 Known Infected Swimmer

"Flesh-Eating Bacteria" is one of three things: The best band name ever. A terrible nightmare. Or an actual thing found along a Massachusetts beach...spoiler: all three are true.

According to a People article, health officials in Massachusetts are warning residents and visitors that a swimmer contracted the flesh-eating bacteria called Vibrio vulnificus while on Cape Cod last week.

The swimmer was an "older individual" with an open wound... They do say that salt water cures all. But in this case, it could have been bad.

The CDC says a Vibrio infection is treatable with antibiotics, but in more dire cases, “doctors may need to amputate a patient’s legs or arms to remove dead or infected tissue.”

While this is the only known case locally at the moment, "On August 13, the Massachusetts Department of Public Health said that there have been seven confirmed cases of Vibrio vulnificus among residents in the last several years, including four that were likely exposed in the state."

Even scarier, this same bacteria has taken the lives of eight individuals in the Gulf Coast before the Massachusetts incident. That said, officials in Massachusetts say the beaches are safe and will remain open.

The flesh-eating bacteria is fatal for 1 in 5 people, according to the CDC, which warns that some people die within a day or two of exhibiting symptoms.