Flesh-eating disease appears after black fly bite becomes infected

An Ontario woman is warning people about the dangers of a rare illness she contracted following a black fly bite, that almost killed her.

Deborah Charette was gardening at her Astorville, Ont., home near North Bay when she says she was bitten on her chest by a black fly.

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Charette said she felt weak over the next few days. Then all she remembers is waking up in hospital.

"I remember opening my eyes and wondering where am I?"

Charette was told she had flesh-eating disease, also known as necrotizing fasciitis.

"They called my husband. He was at home. They called him and said if they didn't go in and try to operate on me that I wasn't going to be alive in the morning," she recalled.

There's no way of knowing how the bacteria got into her skin where the black fly bit. But the disease was eating away at her chest.

Charette had a mastectomy to save her life.

"I would take anything to be here, rather than to be gone," she said.

Disease not caused by bug bites

Lisa Schell, who is with the Sudbury and District Health Unit, said necrotizing fasciitis is rare and isn't caused by bug bites.

"It's how an individual actually reacts to that bacteria being introduced into their body that may develop into a necrotizing fasciitis," she said.

Schell said she wants to reassure the public that flesh-eating disease is not caused by bug bites, but wound infections.

"Sometimes when an individual scratches that bug bite, the protective coating on top of that bug bite comes off ... [and] there is a chance of infection."

Schell said flesh-eating disease is non-reportable, which means there aren't any figures to track how many times it's been diagnosed.

She noted the condition is uncommon.

Charette said she is coming forward with her story because she wants people to know that flesh-eating disease can happen to anyone.

"I'm lucky because I didn't die, so I feel it necessary to warn other people about the disease, even though it's extremely rare," she said.

"If you're sick, go to a doctor immediately."