The threat posed by flesh-eating bacteria lurking on beaches and in rivers this summer is looming larger by the week, as cases climb into the double digits and deaths are following suit.
Vibrio vulnificus eats away at tissues in the skin until they shrivel, turn black, and die, a condition called necrotizing fasciitis, requiring lengthy surgery to strip the dead skin from the patient’s body or amputation to remove the limb to save the person's life.
The bacteria typically populates the waters off the Gulf Coast, but has slowly made its way northward, appearing in the waters off North Carolina, where it has infected 59 people and killed one since January 1, according to state health records.
Florida, meanwhile, has reported 16 cases this year and a death toll of five. And Louisiana health officials have reported 17 cases of Vibrio vulnificus so far this year, four of which have proven fatal.
Deadly bacteria living in coastal and brackish waters (a mix of fresh and salt water) can infect swimmers through open wounds or strike unsuspecting diners who eat raw or undercooked seafood like oysters.
Health experts warn the bug can cause everything from nasty bouts of stomach illness to dangerous wound infections and, in the most severe cases, it can trigger life-threatening blood poisoning.
The bacteria’s steady rise is, experts believe, a consequence of warming waters. The bacteria thrive in waters between 68 degrees Fahrenheit and 95 degrees Fahrenheit (20 degrees Celsius to 35 degrees Celsius).
These temperatures are becoming more common as the planet warms, and as ocean temperatures rise, Vibrio is spreading further north and remaining on coasts longer.
Worsening storms and flooding are also washing the bacteria into freshwater, putting swimmers and seafood lovers at higher risk.
While Florida's tally thus far falls short of the annual average of 48 cases and 11 deaths, in Louisiana, the state's averages for both have been dwarfed by the current figures.
There have been 17 cases so far this year, including four deaths. By comparison, an average of seven V. vulnificus cases and one death have been reported each year in Louisiana over the previous 10 years.
All 17 patients have been hospitalized, according to the Louisiana Department of Health.
Texas saw an average number of Vibrio cases of about 33 per year from 2015 to 2019, the latest year available. Annually, cases have fluctuated between 22 to 36.
In 2019 in Texas, Adam Perez, 42, was hospitalized and lost most of the flesh on the lower half of his right leg after a dangerous dip in Waters Edge Park in Corpus Christi.
He had to undergo four different life-saving surgeries, including skin grafts over his leg.
‘This is a very scary-sounding bacteria, Vibrio vulnificus. Fortunately, it is rare, but it can be very deadly,’ Dr Alok Patel, a pediatrician at Stanford Children's Health, told ABC News.
Vibrio kills, on average, 20 percent of its victims, though in people with compromised immune systems, that figure jumps to at least 30 percent.
In severe cases, when it causes sepsis or necrotizing fasciitis, the risk of death climbs to 70 percent.
About 80 percent of people who become infected contract it from contact with seawater, while 20 percent of infections are caused by consumption of raw seafood.
About 150 to 200 V. vulnificus infections are reported to the CDC each year and trends suggest cases are rising.
A sweeping review of CDC data from 1988 to 2018 revealed that Vibrio wound infections on the East Coast surged eightfold, from about 10 to over 80 cases per year.
Rachel Noble, a microbiologist at UNC-Chapel Hill’s Institute of Marine Sciences, said: ‘Every water sample we collect along the [North Carolina] coast now contains some kind of Vibrio. That wasn’t true two decades ago.’
When V. vulnificus is not fatal, it still can leave lifelong complications.
When it enters a wound, the bacteria proliferate quickly and release toxins that tear tissue and blood vessels apart.
The infection can penetrate deeper layers of the skin, muscle, and bloodstream in a matter of hours.
From there, the skin develops blisters and open sores. It becomes red, then purple, then black. Blood pressure plummets, and the body becomes feverish.
If the bacteria enter the bloodstream, they cause sepsis, a life-threatening condition that ravages the organs until they fail.
Urgent medical care is needed to stop this process in its tracks, including antibiotics, emergency surgery to remove the dead tissue, and, potentially, amputation.
