An alarming series of public health reports across the country are warning about flesh-eating bacteria, which is as horrific as it sounds. Also known as necrotizing fasciitis, it’s triggered by microbes that attack the body’s soft tissues. In Florida, at least 26 cases have been confirmed so far this year, at least five of which have been fatal, according to the state health department. (Last year, 74 cases and 17 deaths were reported.)
The bacteria to blame lives naturally in warm, brackish water. It’s known as Vibrio vulnificus, which is related to Vibrio cholerae, the pathogen that causes cholera. There are many ways it can infect people, including by eating raw shellfish, particularly oysters, or swimming in the ocean with an open wound. Once infected, it can cause the disintegration of tissue, generating ulcers and spreading through the bloodstream, causing sepsis. It really does eat your flesh. However, it’s extremely rare, and there’s no evidence that these infections are contagious from person to person.
The cases in Florida follow a handful of similar deaths: one in New York, two in Connecticut and three in North Carolina. Unsurprisingly, as climate change drives up water temperatures — with ocean waters around Florida entering literal “Jacuzzi temperatures” earlier this summer — it creates conditions in which flesh-eating bacteria can thrive. A study published last March in the journal Scientific Reports found that these conditions have increased the number of annual cases, as well as caused them to spread farther north. “The projected expansion of V. vulnificus wound infections stresses the need for increased individual and public health awareness in these areas,” the authors concluded.