The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently issued a national health alert warning doctors and health care workers to be aware of infections from a flesh-eating bacterium, Vibrio vulnificus, that has been found in multiple states this year.
The agency noted that an estimated 80,000 Vibrio bacteria illnesses each year are reported in the United States, including Vibrio parahaemolyticus and Vibrio alginolyticus. However, the deadliest one appears to be Vibrio vulnificus, which officials say can sometimes cause death within one or two days, although the CDC noted that only about 150 to 200 such infections are reported to the federal agency every year.
