Can Climate Change Increase the Incidences of Flesh-Eating Bacterial Infection? |

Can Climate Change Increase the Incidences of Flesh-Eating Bacterial Infection?

Scientists say yes, it can, and in fact, it’s happening right now.

Background

The bacteria is Vibrio vulnificus, which can infect a person via an open sore or wound (such as a scratch) and can cause necrotizing fasciitis, or flesh-eating disease. Symptoms include a red, warm, or swollen area near the infection that spreads quickly, fever, chills, delusion, vomiting, diarrhea, dizziness, fatigue, pus oozing from the infected area, and pain. Black sores near the infection would indicate an advanced case. If infection does occur, it’s important for the person to get to the doctor immediately. Some cases can be taken care of with antibiotic treatments, but in many cases, surgery is necessary.

Image from Wiki Commons

In this recent news article on CNN, a patient who visited his doctor ended up in a hospital operating room within an hour. The doctor, before surgery, asked for permission to remove the leg if necessary, to save the patient’s life.

While infection is not likely to happen in the open ocean, due to high salt content (the bacteria can’t live in such an environment), it’s possible near the shoreline, where fresh water from surface runoff or ice melt can lower the salt levels, and the Vibrio vulnificus can flourish.

Yearly Increases

So why the sudden concern in the media? Is it due to the “Culture of Fear?” Or is there a legitimate concern? Check out these quick facts:

There has been an 800% increase in Gulf Coast cases from 1988 to 2018
Massachusetts has had 71 cases this Summer, with 30% of cases going to hospital (but no deaths)
Louisiana has seen 17 hospitalizations and four deaths this Summer
North Carolina has seen a 620% increase in the past ten years
New York cases have tripled in the past ten years
Most cases this year have occurred in Louisiana and Florida
According to the CDC, only 10% of cases in the USA are from eating undercooked shellfish
The death rate is 50%

And, this graph, also from CNN, charting the increase in cases in states along the east coast.

Graphs from CNN

Possible Causes

There has been a definite increase in cases over the past ten years. The rising temperatures of the Earth and the ocean, which I’ve previously written about here and here, is the likely cause. Warmer oceans allow the bacteria to persist for longer periods of time and create a larger habitat for themselves in the Gulf of Mexico and farther north by 48 kilometres per year.

There are also some who feel the pandemic lowered our immunity, resulting in an increased rate of infections. The theory is that when people isolated due to fear of COVID, there were fewer exposures to illnesses, and immune systems are now not as robust as in pre-pandemic times.

Should we be concerned? Should we stop going to the beach, stop swimming, and cancel those trips to the ocean?

Absolutely not. I don’t believe in the culture of fear. However, I do believe in awareness.

I am not a doomsayer. I know that climate change is happening. I know that the Earth is warming, a fact which 97% of scientists on the planet believe to be true. However, I am also a pragmatist, and I believe that the human race needs to adapt in order to prosper. I have also written about this recently, such as this article, where I encouraged the Canadian government to adjust economic policies to meet and prepare for an environment that is warmer, and not react to one, which will be vastly more dangerous (and costly) in the future.

Conclusion

The danger is there. The cases are increasing, though such infections are still very rare. The increase is possibly the result of Global Warming. A newer strain has also appeared in the UK. People should be more aware of cuts, scrapes, and open sores, especially if they enjoy swimming in warm water. Another thing is certain: there are many symptoms of Global Warming cropping up. This is just another in a long chain of them.

Be vigilant. Our Earth is changing, and we need to adapt to those changes.

— Timothy S. Johnston

*** Disclaimer: I am not a medical doctor. If you suspect you have an infection, please seek professional medical assistance immediately.

Sources

CNN: https://www.cnn.com/2025/08/27/us/flesh-eating-bacteria-climate-change

CDC: https://www.cdc.gov/group-a-strep/about/necrotizing-fasciitis.html

National Post: https://nationalpost.com/health/flesh-eating-bacteria-canada

Today: https://www.today.com/health/disease/flesh-eating-bacteria-vibrio-rising-2025-rcna223152

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A Blanket of Steel by Timothy S. Johnston and from Fitzhenry & Whiteside, LTD. is the recipient of the 2024 GLOBAL Thriller Award GRAND PRIZE and the 2024 CYGNUS Award First in Category.

— Timothy S. Johnston, 2 September 2025

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Praise for Timothy S. Johnston’s A Blanket of Steel

“Fans of Clive Cussler’s NUMA Files will be delighted with Timothy S. Johnston’s undersea novels. Truman McClusky and Dirk Pitt are cut from the same adventurer’s cloth.” — Nick Cutter, author of The Deep and The Troop

“Action that ranges from close range combat to torpedo-fueled attacks. The result is a thriller that keeps moving from confrontation to confrontation … with constant danger and the vast depths of the ocean as a setting, there is always reason to keep reading.” — Kirkus Reviews

“Read the book and prepare to be blown away by one of the best writers I have ever had the pleasure to read. Timothy S. Johnston is simply amazing.” — FIVE Stars from Readers’ Favorite

“A Blanket of Steel is not simply a ‘daring do’ thriller … It’s prescient.” — Amazing Stories

“A priority selection. An action-packed story that is hard to put down. A Blanket of Steel is outstanding.” — D. Donovan, Sr. Reviewer, Midwest Book Review

“Innovative technology, Mac taking risks no one else would dare and thinking his way through to brilliant solutions … But the stakes are higher than they’ve ever been before. This is it. The countdown to the final battle … Johnston does an excellent job of keeping the tension taut as he plays with the reader’s perceptions of characters we thought we knew and trusted …” — SFcrowsnest

“Expect to be left breathless. Trust me here. Please. I COULD NOT PUT IT DOWN.” — Michael Libling, author of The Serial Killer’s Son Takes A Wife and Hollywood North: A Novel in Six Reels

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A BLANKET OF STEEL is out now!

WATCH THE GRIPPING BOOK TRAILER HERE.

FOR PURCHASE OPTIONS CLICK HERE

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A Blanket of Steel from Timothy S. Johnston and Fitzhenry & Whiteside, Ltd.

Book Cover & Jacket Copy:

AN UNSTOPPABLE THREAT!

A mysterious assassin has murdered Cliff Sim, Chief Security Officer of the underwater colony, Trieste. Cliff was a mountain of a man, highly trained, and impossible to defeat in combat. And yet …

Someone brutally beat him and left his broken body in a secret Chinese facility at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean.

And included a calling card for Truman McClusky, Mayor of Trieste.

Taunting him.

Mac has led the underwater colonies in their fight against the world’s superpowers. Climate change has devastated the surface; nations suffer famine, drought, rebellion, rising waters, and apocalyptic coastal flooding. But now, as Mac leads the underwater colonies to freedom and independence, he’s faced with the gravest threat of his life: a Russian assassin, hellbent on killing Mac and everyone he cares for. Now Mac must uncover the identity of the killer, face him in combat, and at the same time lead people in battle against the largest underwater force ever assembled. It’s Mac’s final test, and to win the war, he must use every tool at his disposal, including the most surprising and devastating underwater weapons ever invented.

If Mac fails, all hope is lost for the future of human colonization on the ocean floors.

But the assassin could be anyone …

Watch your back, Mac.

A Blanket of Steel is the most gripping thriller yet in The Rise of Oceania.

FOR PURCHASE OPTIONS CLICK HERE

The other books in The Rise of Oceania series by Timothy S Johnston:

The War Beneath 9781771484718
The Savage Deeps 9781771485067
Fatal Depth 9781554555574
An Island of Light 9781554555819
The Shadow of War 9781554556007