California man dies from flesh-eating bacteria after chasing dog into pond

A California man died last week following a bout with flesh-eating bacteria he contracted after chasing his dog into a rain-created pond.

Jeff Bova, 41, died Friday in San Diego. In March, he waded into some standing water when he had a small cut on his arm.

Susan Mc Intyre, Bova’s mother, told NBC News, he was diagnosed with necrotizing fasciitis, an infection that kills the body’s tissue and spreads quickly.

“Stay away from standing water, especially after it rains because there is just a ton of bacteria in it,” she said. “If you get any kind of cut, and it starts getting red, go to the doctor immediately — don’t wait.”

Mc Intyre said her son tried to treat the infection by himself but eventually developed painful blisters and other symptoms that required hospitalization. He died two days after he was admitted.

“It’s hard and everything just happened so fast,” Mc Intyre told KYMA.

Dr. Shweta Warner, an infectious disease expert, told the local station that the infection was not contagious and very rare.

“It enters your body through your broken skin barrier, and it quickly reproduces in your tissue, moving through the tissues very rapidly and giving off toxins,” Dr. Warner said.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about one in three people who contract necrotizing fasciitis die.

“Accurate diagnosis, rapid antibiotic treatment, and prompt surgery are important to stopping this infection,” the CDC says.

Symptoms for necrotizing fasciitis include warm skin with red or purplish areas of painful swelling followed by fever, fatigue and vomiting.

The CDC says between 700 and 1,110 cases are recorded in the U.S. every year.