Flesh-eating bacteriaYes, Flesh-Eating Bacteria Are in the Warm Coastal Waters – but it doesn’t mean you’ll get sick
News reports about flesh-eating bacteria — V. vulnificus —tend to focus on people dying or losing limbs from the bacteria. It’s not front-page news when someone has a mild skin infection or eats a bad oyster and spends a couple days in the bathroom. We don’t often identify the most mild illnesses because people typically don’t seek medical care for them. Even so, V. vulnificus infections are rare. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that about 205 infections occur each year, of which 124 were reported in 2014, including 21 deaths.
Like humans, many bacteria like to spend time at the beach. The so-called flesh-eating bacteria, Vibrio vulnificus, don’t just like the beach; they need it, and rely on seasalt for survival. And as with human beachgoers, the warmer the water, the more of them there are.
V. vulnificus is most commonly found in the warm waters of the states bordering the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico but can also be found along the Atlantic and Pacific coasts. As ocean temperatures rise, it will spread with those warming waters to new ocean habitats where colder waters previously kept it in check. We have seen outbreaks of disease from similar types of Vibrio related to rising ocean temperatures as far north as Alaska.
Most cases of infection occur between May and October, when coastal waters are warmest. This could change, however, as summer weather starts earlier and lasts longer.
I am an infectious disease epidemiologist interested in tracking disease, investigating outbreaks and food safety. The first large outbreak I worked on in Las Vegas was caused by contaminated oysters, and it made me realize just how easily food from the ocean can show up in the desert and make people sick if it isn’t harvested, handled and prepared properly.
We only Hear About the Worst Cases
News reports tend to focus on people dying or losing limbs from the “flesh eating” bacteria. It’s not front-page news when someone has a mild skin infection or eats a bad oyster and spends a couple days in the bathroom. We don’t often identify the most mild illnesses because people typically don’t seek medical care for them.
Even so, V. vulnificus infections are rare. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that about 205 infections occur each year, of which 124 were reported in 2014, including 21 deaths. To put this in some perspective, over 32,000 people died that year in motor vehicle crashes.
