It's called like that because necrosis of your limbs and body looks like you was biten by an alligator, there are just pieces of dead flesh that fall from you. I was briefly exposed to some users and oh Jesus Christ of fuck I'm happy it didn't have that traction in my region.
When I watched it, I've remembered the Stolen Sun poem by Chukovsky that I've read as a kid and reimagined it as these four strings.
Крокодил-крокодил,
Моё солнце проглотил.
Ни бороться, ни стараться
Больше не осталось сил.
Crocodile-crocodile,
Swallowed my sun completely
To fight, to endure
I don't have any power to even measure.
In the end, the anchor says churches and sects are the only ways for the consumers to get free as it seems like the government completely fogotten them, ignored that problem. Welcome to Russia. Since what feels like ethernity, it was built to only have contact with you when you owe money or blood to them, to oil it's gears.