Surviving an EF5 tornado is already a miracle, but for some Americans who experienced the historic Joplin disaster, it didn’t stop there. A few days after the tornado, residents were infected by a flesh-eating fungus that literally ate them alive.
The tornado that occurred in Joplin, Missouri on May 22, 2011 was one of the most violent to have hit the United States. Classified EF5, this devastating whirlwind lasted 38 minutes and generated winds of more than 320 km/h. It was the costliest tornado in the country’s history, but above all the deadliest since 1947: it caused the death of 158 people (and 4 others indirectly) and injured around 1,150 people.
But back then, those who survived this monster had to face another deadly threat in the weeks that followed: a flesh-eating mushroom! In the area devastated by the tornado, 13 people were infected by the fungus and 5 died despite treatment (38%). What do these 13 people have in common? All were injured by debris thrown by the tornado’s strongest winds, whether broken bones or open wounds.
The mushrooms were carried in the debris and into the air
The fungal infection in question is mucormycosisa disease caused by fungi subphylum Mucoromycotina that grow in mold. Typically, the disease only affects people who are immunocompromised, but in Joplin’s case, it was simply injured people who became infected. Some of the debris that pierced or scratched the skin of the victims must therefore have contained these fungi. It is also possible that the mushrooms were transported through the air. The images of affected patients are unbearable and we have chosen not to publish them.
The fungi attacked the inside and outside of their bodies: they literally ate their lungslungs and other organs, but also their arms, legs and other parts of their bodies. The infection occurred between 6 and 24 days after the tornado: it was often identified too late for treatment to be effective.
Medical teams then recommended that anyone in the area with strange-looking injuries not wait and go to the hospital immediately.
