Two people have died after eating oysters harvested from Louisiana waters that were later found to be contaminated with Vibrio vulnificus, a flesh-eating bacterium, according to health officials in Louisiana and Florida. Several other infections have been confirmed in both states.
The Louisiana Department of Health said the oysters tied to the deaths were served in restaurants in Louisiana and Florida. Both states have now reported multiple fatalities this year: six in Louisiana and five in Florida.
The mounting toll prompted Louisiana health officials to issue a public advisory on July 31, warning residents to take precautions against vibriosis, the illness caused by Vibrio vulnificus. The bacterium is part of a broader group of Vibrio bacteria that naturally occur in warm coastal waters, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention notes.
According to Dr. Andrew Handel, a pediatric infectious diseases specialist at Stony Brook Children's Hospital in New York, Vibrio can cause severe infections, including invasive soft tissue infections and bloodstream infections. Such infections are sometimes referred to as necrotizing fasciitis, or flesh-eating disease.
Most cases arise from eating raw or undercooked shellfish, particularly oysters, according to the CDC. Infections can also occur when the bacterium enters the body through open wounds while people are swimming. Symptoms can escalate rapidly and become life-threatening. "The symptoms of skin infections can progress quickly and become life-threatening in a short time," Handel told Fox News Digital. "Thankfully, those infections are rare."
Louisiana officials said 17 cases of Vibrio vulnificus have been reported among state residents in 2025, all requiring hospitalization. Four of those patients died. Over the past decade, Louisiana averaged about seven cases and one death each year. "It's just prolific right now," Jennifer Armentor, who oversees the molluscan shellfish program at the Louisiana Department of Health, told the Louisiana Oyster Task Force at a meeting this week in New Orleans.
For mild infections, doctors recommend increased fluid intake to prevent dehydration. Severe or prolonged cases often require antibiotics, while wound infections may need surgical removal of dead tissue. The CDC estimates that about one in five infected patients die, sometimes within days of developing symptoms.
Florida Health warns that bloodstream infections caused by Vibrio vulnificus can result in fever, chills, septic shock and blistering skin lesions. Roughly half of such cases are fatal. In rare but extreme instances, the bacterium can trigger necrotizing fasciitis, leading to the rapid death of tissue around an open wound.
