Big Isle park closed after man contracts flesh-eating bacteria

A popular Puna park remains closed to visitors after a man who reportedly visited its swimming area contracted a flesh-eating bacteria in his leg, the director of Hawaii County’s Department of Parks and Recreation said Friday.

Lifeguards closed Aha­la­nui Park at about 4:45 p.m. Thursday when officials became aware of the man’s illness, and park gates will remain locked until the Department of Health determines it is safe, Parks Director Clayton Honma said.

State epidemiologist Dr. Sarah Park described an apparent rash of necrotizing fasciitis cases on the Big Island in recent weeks as a set of unrelated and unfortunate "coincidence on the part of the patients."

Park said the Department of Health looked into the cases and found that they originated from different geographic areas; involved wounds received in different ways and in different places; and were caused by different bacteria.

"These cases that we were told about on the Big Island, just from what we heard, didn’t appear to be linked," she said.

Necrotizing fasciitis kills off the tissue between the skin and the muscle, usually through toxins released by a bacteria contracted through an open wound, Park said, adding that a range of different bacteria can cause necrotizing fasciitis.

"You have to think about it like pneumonia or a cold," she explained. "Pneumonia can be caused by a number of different bacteria, as well as viruses, but we still always just call it pneumonia."

Initial symptoms include severe pain and tenderness out of proportion when compared with the size or appearance of the wound, redness, warmth and a soft or mushy feeling when the skin is pressed down.

Honma said he contacted the Department of Health’s Clean Water Branch to test the pond and determine whether the bacteria the man contracted came from Aha­la­nui Park. The patient apparently swam there about three weeks ago, he said.

Honma could not recall a time in the five years he has served as Hawaii island’s parks director that a park was closed due to a reported contraction of flesh-eating bacteria.

"If anything it’s a good reminder of appropriate wound care," Park said.