At least five people have been infected this year with a deadly flesh-eating bacteria that is often caught from swimming at the beach – even as summer has barely begun.
The patients were in five separate Florida counties and diagnosed with Vibrio vulnificus, a pathogen that proliferates in warm saltwater and can infect open wounds of beachgoers, leading to life-threatening infections or amputations.
Each was infected in a different county, but four of the patients were in major vacation destinations when they tested positive, including Miami, Tampa, Palm Beach and Fort Myers.
No further details on the patients were revealed, including their ages and whether any were hospitalized, died or suffered amputations from the infection.
Reported by the Florida Department of Health, the infections mark the first recorded in the US so far this year. For Florida, it is two more cases than registered at the same time last year.
Vibrio vulnificus thrives in warm surface water in the ocean, at temperatures above 68F, or 20C. It can also infest seafood such as oysters and then infect those who consume them.
From May to October, warm weather causes a surge in the population of the bacteria, raising the risk of infection.
Although the disease remains rare, it is often deadly, and cases are rising. CDC officials say about 150 to 200 infections are recorded every year, but about one in five leads to a fatality.
Genevieve Gallagher, 49, caught Vibrio vulnificus after swimming at a beach off Florida’s coast. She was hospitalized and doctors warned that she was going into organ failure. She was infected in July 2025, and is not one of the current patients
Nationwide, at least 72 infections were recorded across 12 states last year. Most of the patients were in the South.
Warning signs of an infection include skin redness or a rash that quickly becomes swollen or painful, as well as fluid-filled blisters, fever, pain and an altered mental state.
In severe cases, the bacteria turn flesh black, potentially leading to an amputation, or can enter the blood and cause the life-threatening complication sepsis.
Older adults, those with a compromised immune system and those who consume seafood are most at risk.
Florida revealed the cases on the surveillance tool area of its website. There has been no official announcement. It was not clear whether the cases were linked.
In April this year, the New England Journal of Medicine reported the case of a 74-year-old man from Florida who was infected with the bacteria.
The patient, who was not named, had suffered a painful laceration on his right leg after jumping into water on the Gulf Coast of Florida and then became infected.
He was in pain for two days immediately after the accident, before his skin also changed color and his leg began to swell.
Gallagher is pictured above before her infection, left, and while in the hospital. She believes the bacteria entered her left leg through an open cut
Ben West, 38, was diagnosed with Vibrio vulnificus, a severe bacterial infection that can cause kidney and liver failure. His fiancée, Jamie Knowles, took him to the hospital and has been caring for him
On the third day, he went to the Emergency Department, where doctors confirmed a Vibrio infection and rushed him through for surgery.
His right leg had to be amputated above the knee.
Florida had one of its warmest Mays on record this year, with previous mercury readings being smashed by the warmer weather.
In Fort Myers, the average temperature in May was 82.2F, or nearly 28C, its second-hottest on record for the last 128 years. The hottest ever was in 2023, when the May average was 83.2F, or 29C.
Experts have warned that the warmer temperatures could lead to a spike in Vibrio infections, because they will lead to the oceans warming earlier and remaining warmer for longer, raising the window in which someone could be infected.
It could also lead to warmer temperatures in areas where oysters are raised, raising the risk that more may be contaminated.
In a previous case recorded in Florida last year, a 49-year-old woman nearly lost her life after she caught Vibrio while swimming in the sea off Pensacola Beach in July with her daughter.
Genevieve Gallagher felt fine after the swim, but three days later, her left leg began to swell and she developed agonizing blisters on its calf.
Scientists are warning that Vibrio vulnificus cases have risen nationwide in recent years (stock image)
The above shows Sunny Isles Beach, Florida, which is in Miami-Dade County, where one of the infections was recorded
She was rushed to the ED where doctors diagnosed her with Vibrio, septic shock and warned that she was going into organ failure.
Gallagher told the Pensacola News Journal: ‘It feels like somebody took gasoline, poured it on my leg, and lit my leg on fire. That’s what it feels like.
‘Just looking at my leg, it doesn’t even look like my leg anymore. It looks deformed right now. The pain is unbelievable.’
Gallagher believes the bacteria entered her body through a ‘small cut’ on her left leg, which she said she had a waterproof bandage on.
Doctors treated her by removing most of the muscle on her left leg up to the knee.
