Here’s an excellent story from Knox News about the flesh-eating bacteria news that’s going viral lately.

Several cases of flesh-eating bacteria, otherwise known as necrotizing fasciitis, have put people in hospitals across the United States and killed some.

A Memphis man died Sunday after contracting the flesh-eating bacteria, vibrio vulnificus, while on vacation in Destin, Florida.

So, just how common is this, and should you be worried about swimming in oceans, rivers or lakes?

Are flesh-eating bacteria on the rise?

Mark Rasnake, an infectious disease physician at the University of Tennessee, said the Centers for Disease Control has not issued any reports confirming a rise in cases of flesh-eating bacteria this year.

“I sort of think it’s just one of those things that’s maybe amplified by social media,” Rasnake said.

Necrotizing fasciitis is the death of the deep tissue, and multiple types of bacteria can become “flesh-eating,” including group A Streptococcus, which causes sore throats but is not associated with water, according to Rasnake.

The CDC tracks necrotizing fasciitis in the U.S. caused by Group A Strep. Its website reports that since 2010, there have been approximately 700 to 1,200 cases of necrotizing fasciitis annually in the country, which ” is likely an underestimate.”

About one in three people die from the infection, according to the CDC.  READ MORE HERE TO FIND OUT HOW TO AVOID THE BACTERIA