September 5, 2023 – The CDC has issued an alert about cases of a rare flesh-eating bacteria that has killed 13 people within the eastern United States this 12 months.
About 200 Americans report Vibrio vulnificus infections every year, and a couple of fifth of them end in death, sometimes inside only a day or two, in response to the CDC.
The health warning said: “V. Vulnificus wound infections have a short incubation period and are characterized by necrotizing skin and soft tissue infections.” Many infected people “require intensive care or limb amputations.” Some infections cause flesh to die around open wounds.
The CDC said extreme weather events such as coastal flooding, hurricanes and storm surges “force coastal waters into inland areas, endangering people exposed to those waters.”
Officials have reported at least one death in New York this year; two in Connecticut; three in North Carolina; and seven in Florida.
“Although infections from the bacteria have been reported primarily on the Gulf Coast, infections in the eastern United States increased eight-fold from 1988 to 2018.” The Washington Post reported. “During the same period, the northern geographic range of infections has increased by 30 miles each year. This year’s infections occurred during a period of above-average coastal sea surface temperatures.”
The bacterium lives from May to October and thrives in warm waters “in low-salinity marine environments resembling estuaries,” the CDC says.
No person-to-person cases have been recorded. The bacteria are transmitted when an open wound is exposed to salt or brackish water. People with liver disease and diabetes are at higher risk.