According to reports, about five people in Louisiana have been confirmed to have died in 2025 from a flesh-eating bacterium, named Vibrio vulnificus, found in warm coastal waters. Based on the statement made by the state officials, this statistic substantially exceeds the annual average on such deaths.
According to the Louisiana’s department of health, those who had died from contracting Vibrio vulnificus were among at least 26 to be infected with the bacterium, with each case resulting in hospitalization.
The health department went further to state that most of those cases (about 85%) involved wounds being exposed to seawater, and about 92% of the infected people had one underlying health condition.
Meanwhile, higher numbers of Vibrio infections in Louisiana are occurring this year compared to the last decade, with the Louisiana Department of Health urging caution. This surge aligns with scientific warnings about rising sea surface temperatures, which create favorable conditions for Vibrio bacteria to thrive.
Vibrio bacteria flourish in warm, brackish coastal waters and proliferate between May and October. The bacteria can cause severe wound infections or blood poisoning after exposure to open wounds in seawater or consuming raw or undercooked seafood.
Based on statistics, about one in five people who contract Vibrio vulnificus in particular die, occasionally within two days of feeling sick from the infection. However, those who eventually survive such an infection on occasion require limb amputation or intensive care.
Vibrio infection symptoms vary by type but typically include gastrointestinal symptoms like watery diarrhea, cramps, nausea, vomiting, and fever; wound infections leading to pain, redness, swelling, and discharge; or a severe bloodstream infection with symptoms like fever, chills, low blood pressure, and blistering skin lesions.
Based on statistics data, the United States usually reports about 150 to 200 cases of Vibrio vulnificus a year. Meanwhile, about half of those cases occur in states like Mississippi, Texas, Louisiana, Alabama and Florida.
