A fifth person died after contracting a rare and flesh -eaten bacteria In Louisiana, state health officials said this week.
Vibrio vulnificus is a bacteria that occurs in hot coastal waters, has previously reported CBS News, and is more frequent between May and October. It can cause a disease including fatal necrotizing fasciitis, according to the centers for Disease Control and Prevention. About one in five people with a vibrio vulnificus infection, according to the CDC.
We do not know how the person has contracted bacteria. The person has not been identified in a press release from state health officials.
People can contract bacteria by exposing a wound open to contaminated water or eating raw or under-cuite seafood, including oysters. This year, two of the deaths of Vibrio Vulnificus in Louisiana were with people who ate contaminated raw oysters, the State Health Department announced in August.
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Louisiana and other states have seen an increase in diagnoses of Vibrio vulnificus. Experts suggest that the trend may be due to Reheat the oceans. The bacteria is generally found on the Gulf coast, but has started to become more frequent in the north, said Dr. Fred Lopez, specialist in infectious diseases in LSU Health.
“It is no longer just a phenomenon of the Gulf coast,” said Lopez. “Global warming moves infections with Vibrio vulnificus on the east coast.”
State health officials have said that over the past decade, Louisiana has seen an average of seven infections and one death per year. In 2025, officials documented 26 cases of bacteria, said CBS News journalist Kati Weis.
There were also 10 documented cases of bacteria in Alabama and three in Mississippi, said Weis, and one of the Mississippi cases was deadly.
CBS Miami Previously, 13 cases of bacteria in Florida, with eight deaths. The cases of Vibrio vulnificus have been documented as far north as Massachusetts. Some oyster beds have even been closed because of bacteria, said Weis.
