Overview

• Louisiana health officials report 26 Vibrio vulnificus infections and five deaths this year, well above the state’s 10-year average of about 10 cases and one death.
• Exposure most often followed open wounds contacting seawater, accounting for 85% of Louisiana cases, and 92% of patients had at least one underlying condition; all were hospitalized.
• Vibrio infections can progress quickly to severe illness that sometimes requires intensive care or amputation, and about one in five patients with this infection die.
• Roughly half of U.S. cases occur in Gulf states; this year Florida has reported 25 cases and five deaths, Alabama 30 cases, Mississippi three cases with one death, and Texas five cases.
• South Korea’s disease agency notes a sharp rise in Vibrio sepsis with 14 cases in August and eight deaths among 19 cases January through August, and advises high-risk people to avoid raw seafood and seawater contact with wounds.