
Health experts looking into the outbreak of skin infections in four American states last fall revealed that contaminated tattoo ink was the culprit behind more than 22 skin and soft tissue infections.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention revealed that it has so far identified 22 confirmed cases of infections with an additional 27 possible cases and 4 probable cases in Iowa, New York, Washington and Colorado.
The report revealed that four companies have been implicated during the investigation and the ink got contaminated by the bacteria when distilled or reverse-osmosis water was used. The largest outbreak was in New York where 19 people suffered from an infection caused by bacteria known as Mycobacterium chelonae which led to formation of reddish or purple raised bumps in the area which was tattooed.
Source: Medindia