Why Fatal ‘Flesh-Eating’ Bacteria Infections Are On The Rise

Fatal infections from “flesh-eating” bacteria Vibrio vulnificus are on the rise, with eight deaths and dozens more cases already this year, and experts warn that climate change is in part to blame.

“Available data indicates that infections are indeed on the rise, particularly in the Gulf Coast and surrounding regions,” Antarpreet Jutla, a professor and director of the USGS FL Water Resources Research Center, and director of the GeoHealth and Hydrology Laboratory at the University of Florida, told Newsweek.

“Climate change is likely a major reason,” R. Sean Norman, a professor and director of the Molecular Microbial Ecology Laboratory in the Department of Environmental Health Sciences at the University of South Carolina, told Newsweek.

Why This Matters

The deadly bacteria thrives in coastal regions where millions of Americans head for holidays, and with sea temperatures rising, an increase in severe storms, and other environmental changes linked to climate change, experts fear that the number of Vibrio vulnificus infections each year will only continue to rise.

What Is Vibrio Vulnificus?

Vibrio vulnificus is a bacterium the Vibrio family, that is often labeled “flesh-eating” for its ability to cause severe and sometimes fatal tissue damage.

Around 150 to 200 Vibrio vulnificus infections are reported to the CDC a year, with about one in five cases being fatal.

Vibrio bacteria live in coastal waters, including salt water and brackish water, a mixture of salt water and fresh water. While most people get infected with Vibrio by eating raw or undercooked shellfish, particularly oysters, some may get infected when an open wound is exposed to salt water or brackish water containing Vibrio, which is how people can become infected with Vibrio vulnificus.

Symptoms of Vibrio vulnificus wound infections include redness, swelling, fever and others, while bloodstream infections can result in fever, dangerously low blood pressure and blistering.

Vibrio vulnificus infections can lead to serious and life threatening complications, such as if flesh around an infected wound dies.

While anyone can get infected, those with weakened immune systems, chronic liver, kidney, or heart disease, cancer, or diabetes, or individuals with fresh wounds are most at risk.

The Impact Of Climate Change

Rita Colwell, a microbiologist and marine scientist at the University of Maryland College Park and former director of the National Science Foundation, agreed the incidence of Vibrio vulnificus infections is “definitely on the rise,” and is well documented along the Gulf Coast and the Southeastern coastal regions of the Eastern United States.

Jutla said that several factors are contributing to this increase, such as increasing sea surface temperatures. “Warmer waters create more favorable conditions for Vibrio proliferation,” he said.

Colwell also said that the “warming of the oceans related to climate change is playing a direct role in this public health threat as warmer temperatures are selective for growth of Vibrios, bacteria that are a natural component of the microbial communities in aquatic ecosystems.”

She added that her research team has “clearly shown an increase in reported Vibrio vulnificus infections moving northward, as the coastal water temperatures have been gradually rising along the East Coast as far as Connecticut and Rhode Island, where cases and deaths were reported very recently.”

The warming sea temperatures have an enhancing effect on the prevalence of Vibrio bacteria because “this bacteria thrives in warm, salty, or brackish water, and as ocean temperatures increase, it can survive for more of the year and spread to new areas,” Norman said.

Alongside increasing sea temperatures, “more frequent and intense storms can also wash extra nutrients into the water, creating ideal conditions for Vibrio to grow,” he said.

“In short, warmer waters and more nutrients mean more Vibrio, and a higher risk for people swimming or coming into contact with coastal waters,” he added.

Other factors impacting the prevalence of the bacteria include enhanced planktonic activity, Jutla said, as Vibrio “often associates with plankton, and increased plankton blooms may support larger bacterial populations.”

Nutrient runoff from land could be another piece of the puzzle, Jutla said, as “agricultural and urban runoff may enrich coastal waters, further promoting microbial growth.”

“Given these trends, it’s reasonable to expect that the risk of encountering Vibrio vulnificus in certain coastal waters—especially during warmer months—will continue to grow,” he said. “This underscores the importance of public awareness and preventive measures.”

Cases Of Vibrio Vulnificus Infections This Year

The eight deaths happened across Florida and Louisiana, with four in each state. Nine other states have also had cases of Vibrio vulnificus infections, according to the news outlet today.com, citing state sources and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)’s BEAM (Bacteria, Enterics, Ameba, and Mycotics) Dashboard.

Per the outlet, in total, there have been 57 confirmed cases of the infection caused by the bacteria in the U.S. this year.

The 57 cases of confirmed Vibrio vulnificus infections this year spread across the 11 following states:

• Alabama (three cases)
• Arizona (one case)
• Florida (13 cases, four deaths)
• Georgia (two cases)
• Louisiana (17 cases, four deaths)
• Massachusetts (one case)
• Mississippi (one case)
• North Carolina (seven cases)
• South Carolina (one case)
• Texas (five cases)
• Virginia (six cases)

Recent years have seen infections and deaths rise following extreme storms and during periods of elevated water temperatures.

In 2024, Florida had a record 82 cases and 19 deaths, a surge health officials linked to hurricane-induced flooding and warm coastal waters.

In order to protect yourself from infection with the bacteria, there are a number of things you can do.

These measures include avoiding contact with salt or brackish water if you have open wounds, thoroughly cooking all shellfish and using waterproof bandages on wounds if exposure is likely.

Showering and washing with soap after swimming, and promptly washing wounds exposed to coastal water is also important, as is washing hands and surfaces after handling raw seafood.