US health authorities warned of the presence of the deadly bacterium Vibrio injuriousknown as the “flesh eater” in waters along the east coast of the country and the Gulf of Mexico. At least five people have died this year in cases related to the bacteria, according to the Florida Department of Health.
The country’s Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) alerted health institutions this weekend that the presence of the bacterium has spread in the US and thrives in the warmer waters of summer (May to October) and in low-salt marine environments, such as estuaries.
The federal agency warned that annually some 80,000 people get sick because of this bacterium, most of the time when a person eat shellfish contaminated. The bacteria can also cause an infection by entering through some open wound.
According to the CDC, each year you are notified of between 150 and 200 Vibrio vulnificus infections and approximately one in five people with this infection diesometimes one to two days after getting sick.
Vibrio vulnificus is a bacterium that found in warm, brackish seawater that can enter the bloodstream through recent cuts and scrapes. Infections caused by Vibrio vulnificus are rare and more serious than most.