Tampa Bay Times: As coastal waters warm, expect more flesh-eating bacteria
Imagine arriving at a beautiful tropical beach on a summer afternoon. Families are swimming, children are splashing in the shallows, and seafood restaurants advertise fresh oysters harvested locally that morning. Just beneath the surface, dangerous, invisible ecological processes are unfolding.
Elevated sea temperatures have accelerated microbial growth. Recent rainfall has altered salinity patterns along the coastline. Nutrient-rich runoff has fueled plankton blooms that provide habitat for naturally occurring bacteria. A swimmer with a small cut on their leg enters the water.
A tourist orders raw shellfish from a nearby restaurant. Neither realizes that environmental conditions are perfect for the pathogenic Vibrio species to proliferate. You might know one strain ― Vibrio vulnificus ― by its common, more frightening name: flesh-eating bacteria.
This scenario is no longer hypothetical in much of the world. Florida alone has reported multiple cases and at least four deaths from Vibrio vulnificus infections this year, which come from swimming with an open wound in infested waters or eating raw seafood such as oysters carrying the bacteria.