A flesh-eating bacteria has been deadly in NC. Here’s the latest this year
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Flesh-eating Vibrio Vulnificus cases have killed at least 13 people in 2026. Here’s how cases in North Carolina compare.
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Vibrio, a bacteria found in salt and brackish water, is contracted when wounds are exposed to water containing the bacteria or a person eats contaminated raw or undercooked shellfish. There are more than 200 species of Vibrio, but only a few cause severe illness or necrotizing fasciitis.
One in five people who contract Vibrio Vulnificus — a species of the bacteria that causes necrotizing fasciitis, a condition in which the flesh around a wound dies — typically die, according to the Center for Disease Control. Sometimes amputation is required, and the illness can progress rapidly.
This summer, five in Florida, seven in Louisiana and one in South Carolina have died of the bacterial infection, but cases of Vibrio vulnificus are down in North Carolina from this time in 2025, according to the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services.
NCDHHS tracks both Vibrio Vulnificus infections and Vibrio infections that are neither Cholera nor Vulnificus on its quarterly disease dashboard. (Cholera is another illness caused by Vibrio, but is most commonly spread by food and water contaminated with feces — though it too can be found in raw seafood.)The next round of data will be available in November.
As of Oct. 12, there have been five confirmed Vibrio vulnificus cases reported in North Carolina in 2026. Additionally, there have been 37 confirmed cases of Vibrio that are neither Cholera nor Vulnificus and 98 probable cases reported.
From January to June last year, there were five cases of Vibrio vulnificus, compared to two over the same time period in 2026. However, there were 45 cases of other vibrio infections, compared to 65 this year.
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The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services told The Charlotte Observer there were 135 cases of Vibrio recorded in the state in 2025, including one death. Thirteen of those cases were Vibrio Vulnificus.
Vibrio is more prevalent in summer because it thrives in higher water temperatures, The Observer previously reported. It becomes active in water temperatures above 60 degrees Fahrenheit, and it multiplies quickly as coastal waters warm throughout the summer, Grist recently reported, noting climate change is making the world’s oceans more hospitable to the bacteria.
Common Vibrio symptoms include, according to the Center for Disease Control:
Signs of a Vibrio bloodstream infection include:
A wound infection could also include:
People can get Vibrio by eating raw or undercooked seafood or exposing an open wound to brackish water or seafood drippings. Raw oysters are a common culprit. The Center for Disease Control estimates that out of 80,000 vibriosis cases yearly, 52,000 are from eating contaminated foods.
Anyone can get Vibrio, but those with liver disease, cancer, diabetes, HIV, thalassemia, receiving immune-suppressing therapy, taking medicine to decrease stomach acid or having recently had stomach surgery are at high risk of severe complications.
Antibiotics are generally not used to treat milder cases, but may be used to treat severe Vibrio cases, according to the CDC.
Parts of this article were previously published in The Observer.
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