Deadly bacteria linked to seawater spreading up East Coast of US

Published July 16, 2025

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quotes Thomas Russo in a report on a potentially deadly bacterium that is spreading north along the U.S. East Coast. Vibrio vulnificus is a bacterium often labeled “flesh-eating” for its ability to cause severe and sometimes fatal tissue damage. “Although most common in the U.S. in the Gulf States,” Vibrio vulnificus is “expanding northward at an estimated range of 48 km/year due to increasing water temperatures,” he said.

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