Overview

• Louisiana has logged 20 Vibrio vulnificus infections this year, all requiring hospitalization, with four deaths reported by the state health department.
• Florida reports 17 cases and five deaths to date, far below the 82 cases and 19 deaths at the same point last year, with officials noting totals often rise in storm-heavy seasons.
• Health guidance urges people to avoid raw or undercooked shellfish and to keep cuts out of salt or brackish water, wash exposures immediately, and seek care for fever, chills, or blistering skin; wound-entry cases can progress quickly and require multiple surgeries.
• Severe illness is more likely in older adults and people with weakened immune systems or conditions such as liver disease and diabetes; V. vulnificus accounts for about 200 of roughly 1,000 annual Vibrio illnesses with an estimated 20% fatality rate.
• Alerts now extend beyond the Gulf Coast, including a recent Massachusetts warning after a Cape Cod case, as research links a northward shift in cases to warming seas.