A Fourth Florida Person Has Died From Flesh-Eating Bacteria This Year
Florida has now recorded four deaths from Vibrio vulnificus in 2026. Twenty people in the state have been confirmed infected. The season runs through October. It's not over.
The most recent death was in Broward County. Earlier deaths occurred in Palm Beach County and two other Florida locations, Marion and Bay counties. Louisiana has had its own separate wave of deaths this year — with 15 cases and 6 deaths confirmed as of early September — some linked to contaminated Gulf oysters that ended up on restaurant plates as far away as Florida.
The message from health officials in both states is the same: if you have liver disease, a weakened immune system, or an open wound anywhere on your body, stay out of warm coastal water and away from raw shellfish.
The Two Ways It Gets You
Vibrio vulnificus lives naturally in warm brackish water — bays, estuaries, the shallow Gulf areas where rivers meet the sea. Oysters filter massive amounts of that water. Whatever's in the water ends up in the oyster. Eat it raw and you're eating it too.
The second route is through skin. An open cut, a scrape, a surgical incision, a fresh tattoo. The bacteria gets in, spreads through surrounding tissue, and in serious cases begins destroying it from the inside. That's where the flesh-eating label comes from — necrotizing fasciitis, where the tissue around an infection site dies. It can move fast. People have gone from a minor wound to an amputation to dead within days.
About one in five people infected die. For people with liver disease or compromised immune systems, that ratio gets much worse.
This Isn't Just a Gulf Problem Anymore
It used to be. From 1988 to 2018, East Coast Vibrio cases surged 800% as ocean temperatures climbed. New York. North Carolina. Connecticut. Cases are showing up in places that didn't used to see them, in months that used to be safe.
Neighboring Gulf states are seeing a similar surge this year — Alabama's Mobile County has logged 10 cases of its own. The warm water window keeps getting longer, and the bacteria keeps following it north.
What Actually Protects You
Don't eat raw oysters if you have liver disease, diabetes, cancer, HIV, or anything that compromises your immune system. The CDC isn't vague about this — for those groups, the risk is serious enough that raw shellfish just shouldn't be on the menu. Cooking oysters to 145°F kills it.
For healthy people, the oyster risk is lower — most who get infected survive. But the wound route is the one people consistently underestimate. Going into a Florida bay or Gulf inlet with any break in your skin during summer is a genuine risk. Rinse any wound that touches coastal water immediately. If you develop redness, swelling, or blistering near any wound site after beach time, mention the water exposure to your doctor right away. Most physicians won't think to test for Vibrio without that context. The window for effective treatment is short and it closes fast.
Four dead in Florida. Twenty confirmed cases. Weeks left in the season.
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