Four people have died from flesh-eating bacteria in Florida. Who is at risk?

Four people in Florida have died this year from bacterial infections that can cause “flesh-eating” wounds, the state’s health department reported this month.

The culprit, the bacteria Vibrio vulnificus, thrives in warm seawater. The deadly cases were seen in counties spread around Florida’s extensive coastline, from Bay County in the Panhandle and Hillsborough County, where Tampa is located, on the Gulf Coast, to Broward County in southeastern Florida and St. Johns County just south of Jacksonville.

Florida has seen 11 Vibrio vulnificus cases so far this year, the state’s health department says. The bacteria can get into the body through open wounds in the skin and cause the surrounding tissue to die, a condition known as necrotizing fasciitis, or flesh-eating disease, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. People can also get Vibrio vulnificus from eating contaminated foods, particularly raw oysters. It’s unclear how the people in Florida were infected.

About 1 in 5 people with a Vibrio vulnificus infection die, the CDC says.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/four-people-died-flesh-eating-100000579.html