Japan is seeing a record-breaking rise of a “flesh-eating bacteria” that can kill people within 48 hours, prompting a closer look at the deadly disease.

Cases of streptococcal toxic shock syndrome (STSS) in Japan have reached 1,019 cases as of June 9, more than the total number reported in all of last year. At the current rate of infections, the number of cases in Japan could reach 2,500 this year, with a “terrifying” mortality rate of 30 per cent, Ken Kikuchi, a professor in infectious diseases at Tokyo Women’s Medical University, told Bloomberg earlier this month.