Topline
Almost a dozen people have died this year in the Southeast after contracting a flesh-eating bacteria called Vibrio vulnificus that thrives in warm water and can be exacerbated by hurricanes hitting the coast.
Health departments in several states are warning residents about a mysterious and unusual rise in the bacteria after dozens of cases were confirmed across 11 states and at least nine deaths were attributed to an infection, with a tenth attributed to another vibrio species.
At least 57 cases have been confirmed this year, according to Today, with the highest numbers in Louisiana (17), Florida (13) and North Carolina (7).
Five people have died from Vibrio vulnificus infections in Florida and four have died in Louisiana, but it’s still unclear how exactly the victims contracted the bacteria, which can be spread through infected sea water or through eating raw or undercooked shellfish.
The bacteria thrives in warm water, meaning summertime is the most common time for infections, but one expert told NBC News the number of deaths is still high for this point in the season and another told Today that infections have been steadily rising for the last six to seven years.
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“This is certainly not normal, that’s one thing,” Jantarpreet Jutla, an engineering professor at the University of Florida, told NBC News. “We haven’t had that many cases early on in the summer for a very long time.”
Vibrio are bacteria that naturally live in coastal waters and there are about a dozen different kinds of Vibrio that can lead to vibriosis infections, including vulnificus, which can cause severe and life-threatening infections. Vibrio bacteria thrive in warm seawater and particularly in brackish water—the mix of fresh and salt water found in estuaries and wetlands.
People can get vibriosis after swallowing Vibrio or getting it in a wound. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says eating contaminated food is the most common way to contract a vibriosis infection, claiming it’s responsible for more than half of the estimated vibriosis cases each year. Oysters and other shellfish are the most common carriers of Vibrio. People with open wounds can also be exposed to Vibrio through direct contact with seawater and some infections, like of Vibrio vulnificus, can lead to necrotizing fasciitis that kills the flesh around an open would, leading to the moniker "flesh-eating bacteria." There is no evidence that vibriosis is transmissible person to person.
Those who contracted the infection following the ingestion of raw seafood typically present with fever, chills, blistering skin lesions or dangerously low blood pressure. Wound infections typically come with fever, redness, pain, swelling, discharge and discoloration. Vibrio vulnificus infections are diagnosed by stool, wound or blood cultures.
A Vibrio vulnificus infection can lead to serious illness and need intensive care or limb amputation. About one in five people with the infection die, sometimes within a day or two of becoming sick, according to the CDC.
Vibrio vulnificus infections tend to increase after hurricanes. Paul Gulig, a professor and member of the University of Florida Emerging Pathogens Institute, credits Hurricanes Katrina, Irma and Ian with increasing the visibility of the bacteria. When brackish hurricane waters flooded the streets, cases of the bacterial infection rose. Florida saw a total of 82 cases last year (up from 46 in 2023) after its busy hurricane season. The National Weather Service has predicted a slightly above-normal season for this year thanks to warm ocean temperatures. NOAA estimates there will be between 13 and 19 named storms this year, with six to 10 developing into hurricanes.