(This story was revised to correct the number of deaths this year from Vibrio vulnificus.)
PANAMA CITY — Another person is hospitalized in Bay County because of a “flesh-eating” bacteria.
This brings the number of cases of those infected this year up to three in Bay County, with two deaths. Statewide, there have been 23 infections and five deaths from vibrio vulnificus.
A GoFundMe circulating online to support the family identifies 38-year-old Benjamin West as the newest infected person. The fundraiser says he contracted the infection on Aug. 23 while fishing with his family underneath the intercoastal bridge in nearby Port St Joe.
He sought medical attention after symptoms broke out and received an initial misdiagnosis of cellulitis. The antibiotics he was given reportedly made the infection worse, and West had to go to the emergency room at Ascension Sacred Heart Bay.
West had to have multiple surgeries on his leg, but luckily, the infection hadn’t reached his muscle tissue. The fundraiser says he has a long road toward recovery ahead.
This follows another infection earlier this month in Franklin County that led to the death of a 78-year-old man. He was reportedly fishing on the bay-side of St George Island when he was infected with vibrio. He died while at the hospital in Panama City.
So far this year in the Panhandle, there have been two cases in Escambia, one case in Okaloosa, two cases in Santa Rosa, and one case in Walton County. With Bay County’s three cases, this brings the total for the region to six cases in 2025.
Across Florida, there have been 23 confirmed cases and five deaths. Last year, there were a record 82 cases and 19 deaths, likely due to storm surge and flooding caused by Hurricane Helene.
Vibrio vulnificus thrives in the right mix of fresh and salt water, and the surge pushed the salt water into inland areas. During Hurricane Helene, this happened in heavily populated areas and exposed many to the germ.
The naturally occurring bacteria thrive in brackish warm waters and rarely cause infections. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says that when someone is infected, it is fast spreading and can kill within days.
Usually, infections come from eating raw seafood carrying the bacteria or entering the water with an open wound. Exposing a wound to raw seafood, such as when shucking an oyster, can also result in infection.
May through October is the peak season for vibrio. While many reports refer to the bacteria as “flesh-eating,” the CDC says this is a misconception because the germ doesn’t actually eat flesh. Infections can lead to necrotizing fasciitis, where flesh around a wound dies. This makes the bacteria appear to be “flesh-eating.”
When sediment underwater is disturbed, it can lead to an increase of vibrio bacteria, according to studies published in the National Library of Medicine. Another potential human cause of increased vibrio concentrations is fecal contamination.
A study in the NLM suggests that even small amounts of sewage entering estuarine waters can cause vibrio vulnificus populations to increase significantly. The Mobile BayKeeper, a water-quality preservation group out of Alabama, also says that higher concentrations of the bacteria can be found when pet feces or leaky septic tanks make contact with the water.
In previous reporting by The News Herald, it was found that aging infrastructure in Bay County and around the state sometimes results in sanitary sewer overflows. These are most likely during extreme weather events.
Researchers quoted by EOS, a science news magazine, pointed to heavy rainfall leading to increased vibrio concentrations. They also suggest that warming waters because of climate change have led to an increase in populations of the bacteria.
On Aug. 28, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration measured water temperatures around 85 in Apalachicola, Panama City, and Panama City Beach.
Vibrio does best in water temperatures between 68 and 95, but can grow in temperatures up to 105, according to the Florida Department of Health.
An article from Nature Reviews Disease Primers journal says that most vibrio infections lead to mild gastroenteritis. Vibrio vulnificus is the variant with the high mortality rate tracked by FDOH.
Watery diarrhea, stomach cramps, nausea, vomiting, fever and chills are all symptoms of vibrio infections. For a bloodstream infection, the symptoms are fever, chills, dangerously low blood pressure, and blistering skin lesions. Wound infections feature fever, redness, pain, swelling, warmth, discoloration and discharge.
Anyone with symptoms of wound and bloodstream infections should immediately seek medical attention, says the CDC. Many who are infected will need limb amputation or intensive care. Vulnificus kills one out of five people infected.
This article originally appeared on The News Herald: Another person has been infected with ‘flesh eating’ bacteria in the Florida Panhandle
Reporting by Dylan Gentile, Panama City News Herald / The News Herald
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
