A Broward County resident between the ages of 75 and 79 has become the fourth person in Florida to die this year after contracting Vibrio vulnificus, the flesh-eating bacterium often tied to raw or undercooked oysters, state health officials confirmed Thursday.
The Florida Department of Health included the death in its updated fatality count for the bacterium. It is not yet clear how the Broward County resident became infected.
The other three deaths reported this year came from Bay, Palm Beach and Marion counties, according to the department. Statewide, Florida has logged 21 cases of Vibrio vulnificus in 2026.
“Most people get vibriosis by eating raw or undercooked shellfish, particularly oysters,” the Florida Department of Health said.
A Pattern Tied to Storms
Looking back over the past decade, 2022 and 2024 stand out as especially severe years for the region. Florida recorded 19 deaths and 82 cases in 2024, and 17 deaths and 74 cases in 2022.
Officials have linked those spikes to hurricanes Helene and Ian, noting that standing or floodwater left behind by major storms increases the risk of exposure to the bacterium.
Vibrio vulnificus occurs naturally in warm, brackish seawater. People can be exposed either by eating contaminated oysters or by entering contaminated water with an open wound.
Who Is Most at Risk
Bloodstream infections caused by the bacterium are fatal roughly half the time, health officials said. Most healthy people who are infected experience only mild illness, but the bacterium can cause severe disease in those with weakened immune systems.
“A recent study showed that people with these pre-existing medical conditions were 80 times more likely to develop Vibrio vulnificus bloodstream infections than healthy people,” Florida health officials said.
Severe cases can bring fever, chills, septic shock and blistering skin lesions. Wound infections in some instances have led to tissue damage severe enough to require amputation.
Cases Beyond Florida
The bacterium has also turned up elsewhere along the Gulf Coast this year. Louisiana has reported 15 cases and six deaths as of Sept. 9, according to the Louisiana Department of Health, with 14 of those cases tied to wound or seawater exposure.
The Texas Department of State Health Services says the state typically sees an average of 33 cases a year. Mississippi’s health department reported three cases as of August.
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