In recent years, deaths linked to the flesh‑eating bacterium Vibrio vulnificus and group A streptococcus have risen in the US, Europe and Asia. Warming seas have allowed Vibrio to spread from the Baltic to parts of the North Sea and the Mediterranean.

The rare bacteria can impact people through raw or undercooked seafood or through contact with open wounds

Hundreds have died in recent outbreaks of the so-called flesh-eating bacteria Vibrio vulnificus and Group A strep. In 2026 Vibrio is spreading through the Mediterranean, driven by…