The Washington Post
By Andrew Jeong
September 2, 2023
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Friday issued a national alert warning health-care professionals to watch out for infections of Vibrio vulnificus, a rare flesh-eating bacteria that has killed at least 13 people on the Eastern Seaboard this year.
Although infections from the bacteria have been mostly reported in the Gulf Coast, infections in the eastern United States rose eightfold from 1988 to 2018, the CDC said. In the same period, the northern geographic range of infections has increased by 30 miles every year. This year’s infections came during a period of above-average coastal sea surface temperatures, the agency said.