A Florida senior has become the first person in the United States this year to die from Vibrio vulnificus, a rare but dangerous flesh-eating bacterium, health officials said.
The Palm Beach County resident died after contracting the potentially fatal infection, which is linked to contaminated coastal waters and the consumption of raw oysters, the Palm Beach Post reported.
Officials have not disclosed when the death occurred, but the Florida Department of Health said the patient was between 80 and 84 years old.
The fatal case is the first reported death in the US this year, as Florida has recorded 11 additional Vibrio vulnificus infections.
Cases have also been reported in coastal areas including Hillsborough, Lee, Miami-Dade, Okaloosa and St. Johns counties.
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Marion and Polk counties are the only affected counties without oceanfront borders, though both have brackish waterways where the bacteria may have been present.
In 2023, Florida reported 33 Vibrio vulnificus cases, five of which were fatal.
Commonly described as “flesh-eating bacteria,” Vibrio vulnificus infections tend to rise in Florida between June and September, when warm waters and peak beach and boating season increase the chances of exposure.
The bacteria live in coastal and brackish water and infect victims through ingestion or open wounds.
Symptoms include vomiting, stomach pain and swelling, but it can also lead to necrotizing fasciitis in serious cases, a severe infection in which the flesh around an open wound dies, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“About 1 in 5 people with this infection die, sometimes within a day or two of becoming ill,” the CDC warned.
Many others suffer from limb amputation.
