Health officials in several states said that a rare type of “flesh-eating bacteria” has left at least eight people dead and 32 sick across multiple Gulf Coast states.
The Louisiana Department of Health said late last week that 17 cases of Vibrio vulnificus have been reported so far this year in the state, four of which were fatal.
All 17 cases reported in the state involved the sickened individuals being hospitalized, it said.
“During the same time period over the previous 10 years, an average of seven Vibrio vulnificus cases and one death have been reported each year in Louisiana,” the state health agency said in a statement….