BRIDGE CITY, Texas — Texas doctors are working to create a vaccine to combat a flesh-eating bacteria that forced a Bridge City man to amputate his leg.
Carlton Abney, 54, was on a boat on Cow Bayou with his family when he was exposed to Vibrio Vulnificus. This type of bacteria is not new to the Lone Star State.
"It is very common in the Gulf of Mexico because of the warm temperatures, because of the warmer water temperature,” Dr. Ashwini Kucknoor, a biology professor at Lamar University, said. “And it is very common."
Related: Bridge City man has leg amputated after being exposed to flesh-eating bacteria in Cow Bayou
Carlton Abney had gotten into water that was only up to his knees, and as far as his family knew, did not have any cuts. Still, the flesh-eating bacteria took its toll.
"It was within four hours,” Colton Abney, Carlton Abney's son, said. “It started turning black. It was just eating the skin away. I mean, it was the craziest thing."
In an effort to save Carlton Abney's life, doctors amputated one of his legs.
"He told us he had two hours to live, and we had to amputate the leg at the knee,” Colton Abney said. “And that was a 50/50 chance.”
Doctors from Houston Methodist are rushing to make a vaccine but believe that it is going to take some time. They are hoping to develop a Vibrio vaccine by 2030.
Not much is known about the vaccine, including if it will be available to everyone or just those who may have been exposed.
Dr. Kucknoor also leads the Texas Beach Watch program and tracks bacteria in nearby bodies of water. Vibrio is not a bacteria they test for.
The Lamar University professor recently applied for new grant funding to add Vibrio testing to the list of bacteria they test for on Jefferson County beaches.
"They're always there,” Dr. Kucknoor said. “It just matters whether the numbers are very high. That wherever you're swimming or doing your water activity that you're exposed to more of it."
Dr. Kucknoor hopes to find out by the end of October if their proposal was approved.
Carlton Abney's wife said her husband has had a few setbacks, but they're hoping he's on the right track now.