Tyler, TX — A fast-spreading disease causes a Texas man, Keith Korth, 44, to lose his leg after contracting a bacterial infection during the Port O’Connor fishing tournament on August 4. He was treated at a Houston Hospital and after the diagnosis of the severe infection his leg was amputated.

The rare disease is called "Necrotizing Fasciitis" and is caused by a bacterial infection and is known to eat away tissue. Necrotizing Fasciitis is a complex bacteria infection. It causes a flammatory reaction in the soft tissues beneath the skin.

This infection grows rapidly and tends to separate the layers of the skin destroying the tissue. I spoke to an Emergency Medicine doctor, Dr. King about how you catch this disease.

"The people that end up getting this disease are people with a balance between their immune system and their bacteria gets off," says Dr. King.

People with a weak immune system and have a break in the skin catch this disease, these bacteria's are common and easily get in the skin and start to grow.

In recent cases, people contracted this disease through salt water and pond water.

Dr. King says the infection start as a small coin lesion and grow larger. Once it eats the tissue beneath the skin, the tissue is destroyed and has to be removed.

Dr. King says this infection can't be treated with antibiotics, surgery is required, and sometimes involves amputation.