Louisiana beachgoers are being warned to stay out of the water if they have any kind of wound, including cuts or scraps, because of an outbreak of a flesh-eating bacterium.
Five people in Louisiana have died and four are hospitalized owing to Vibrio vulnificus infections so far this year, according to the state's health department. During this same period over the past decade, the department says the state reported an average of seven cases and one death.
V vulnificus is found in warm coastal waters, and all nine cases from Louisiana's current outbreak are associated with seawater; each patient had underlying health conditions. People can also get it by consuming raw or undercooked shellfish, particularly oysters.
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says about 150 to 200 cases of V vulnificus are reported annually, and that about one in five people who are infected will die, sometimes within a couple of days of becoming ill.
The bacterium causes gastrointestinal symptoms along with septic shock and necrotizing fasciitis, which is a fast-moving infection that destroys tissue and blood vessels beneath the skin. Severe infections might require a limb amputation.
Climate change is increasing the threat
Though Gulf Coast states see the most infections, a warming climate is expanding where V vulnificus is found, according to a 2023 analysis in Scientific Reports.
On average, the study authors found, the distribution of infections has shifted nearly 30 miles northwards per year. "In the late 1980's infections were rare above Georgia (32°N) but by 2018 were regularly reported as far north as Philadelphia (40°N)," they wrote.
The study also found that the number of V vulnificus cases in the United States increased eightfold from 1988 through 2018.
Additionally, hurricanes, which are likely becoming more intense because of climate change, can lead to outbreaks of V vulnificus, as was seen with Hurricane Ian in 2022 and Helene in 2024.
