First Flesh-Eating Bacteria Death of 2026 Recorded in This State

Florida has reported the first death of the year caused by an infection from so-called “flesh-eating” bacterium, according to state health officials. Vibrio vulnificus, most commonly spread through raw seafood or contact with brackish coastal water, earned its “flesh-eating” moniker from its ability to cause an infection called vibriosis that damages or “eats away” at skin and tissue.