Michael Funk was cleaning crab pots on Sept. 11 at his bayside Ocean City condominium. Four days later, Funk was dead, the victim of a flesh-eating bacteria he acquired in the Assawoman Bay – one of the bodies of water that separate Ocean City from the mainland.
For Marcia Funk, his wife of 46 years, his death is compounded by what she called a lack of information in Ocean City about the bacteria, Vibrio vulnificus.
"I really feel they kept it quiet because it's a tourist resort," said Funk. "It's like something out of a horror movie."
Vibrio is most common in areas of warm, brackish waters with low salinity, and can be contracted from consuming raw or under-cooked seafood as well as, in Funk's case, from the infection entering through cuts, according to Centers for Disease Control.
The Assawoman Bay bumps up to a neighborhood off ofBuy Photo The Assawoman Bay bumps up to a neighborhood off of 94th Street in Ocean City where Michael Funk contracted a fatal infection Vibrio vulnificus, a flesh- eating bacteria. (Photo: Staff photo by Ryan Marshall) While not exceedingly rare, with approximately 85,000 reported cases of vibriosis occurring every year, most cases do not reach the severity of Funk's.
A spokesman said the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene is investigating the matter. The number of Vibrio cases this year in Maryland was not immediately available.
Vibrio is not unheard-of in the area. In 2014, an outbreak of the bacteria in the Chesapeake Bay prompted officials to issue an advisory to visitors as vibriosis infections hit 57 in 2013, a Maryland state record.
There are no advisories for a Vibrio outbreak in the Assawoman Bay.
Ocean City spokeswoman Jessica Waters said the municipality has many outreach and education campaigns, but said Vibrio "has never been part of our awareness efforts, at least to my knowledge."