Five people in the Tampa, Florida, area have died from a rare flesh-eating bacteria , which is also the recent cause of death for three others in Connecticut and New York.
The Vibrio vulnificus bacteria, which can be found in raw or undercooked seafood, saltwater, and brackish water, led to the death of two people since January in Hillsborough County, home of Tampa, according to the Florida Department of Health.
An additional person died in each of the surrounding Pasco, Polk and Sarasota counties. Florida has recorded a total of 26 cases statewide this year.
The bacteria has led to other recent deaths in the Northeast, where New York Gov. Kathy Hochul announced it was detected in a person who died in Long Island.
“While rare, the vibrio bacteria has unfortunately made it to this region and can be extraordinarily dangerous,” Hochul said Wednesday in a statement.
New York health officials are still investigating how the Long Island victim was infected.
In Connecticut, three people, aged between 60 and 80 years old, were infected with the bacteria in July, the state’s Department of Public Health said. Two of those patients have since died.
One of the Connecticut patients reported eating raw oysters from an out-of-state establishment, while the other two reported exposure to salt or brackish water in the Long Island Sound.
Brackish water is created when fresh water from a river or lake meets seawater, which has salt in it.
The Florida health department warns people not to get into warm, brackish water if they have fresh cuts or scrapes, because the bacteria can enter the body through a cut or wound and cause an infection.
The department did not list the cause of the infection in the five 2023 cases and officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment from USA TODAY.
“Whenever you have a break in the skin and you’re in a marine environment then theoretically you’re at risk,” Dr. Eric Shamas, an emergency medicine physician at Bayfront Health St. Petersburg, told WFLA News Channel 8 in Tampa.
“It’s very important to keep in mind these severe infections are very rare,” Shamas added.
