Calling it "flesh-eating bacteria" is technically inaccurate, but the nickname helps to describe what it does: it destroys tissue so quickly that limbs have to be amputated within hours. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT The popular term in fact brings together several bacterial species capable of causing necrotising fasciitis, the progressive death of muscle and skin tissue. The two most closely monitored today are Vibrio vulnificus , a marine organism, and group A Streptococcus pyogenes , which is