A beloved California pastor has died after a six-month battle with the so-called flesh-eating bacteria that ravaged her body.

Linda Snyder, of Sacramento, lost her life Tuesday after she developed the rare infection, necrotizing fasciitis, in January, Fox40 reported.

HOW COMMON IS FLESH-EATING BACTERIA?

Snyder is at least the sixth person to be diagnosed with the deadly syndrome in the United States in the last two months, but the first reported death relating to the affliction.

The bacteria enters the body through a cut or gash and then can run rampant through the tissue, destroying it, according to doctors. About 750 cases occur each year, and about one-fifth are deadly, according to the Associated Press.

"It's coined this name because it is such an aggressive germ," Dr. Lynn Fitzgibbons of Kaiser Permanente's infectious disease department told Fox40.

"It does tend to cause a syndrome that people worry that the flesh is being eaten. That's how quickly the flesh is destroyed."

In Snyder's case, the bacteria may have invaded her body through an abscess, and then an infection set in, her daughter Karen told Fox40. She had been in the hospital since Jan. 6.

"She developed lots of complications as a result of the bacteria and surgeries to contain the bacteria," Karen said. "Her lungs were really scarred and she had lots of lung issues and pneumonia almost nonstop."

Family and friends said Snyder, who worked as a pastor for 17 years, was a cheerful, energetic grandmother.

She had been happily married to her husband Chuck for 37 years and ministered to hundreds through the Methodist churches where she had worked, according to Fox40.

"She was a woman of faith and that gave her the strength and passion to live her life," Karen said.

rmurray@nydailynews.com



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