Vibrio vulnificus

Two Texas men have recently been diagnosed with contracting a flesh eating bacteria, a life- and limb-threatening disease that enters your body through contaminated water. While many citizens are concerned about the bacteria, which is known as Vibrio, Texas officials say that it is likely safe to go into the water despite the recent diagnoses.
The bacteria enters your body through open wounds. It can also be contracted through eating raw or contaminated seafood.

So far this summer, 4 people along the Gulf Coast have been infected with a flesh-eating bacteria called vibrio vulnificus. The bacteria are often found in warm, shallow water. The infected individuals all became infected after spending time at the beach.

A Buda, Texas, man has been hospitalized with a flesh-eating infection after spending a day at the beach with his family. He is the second Texas man to be sickened by the bacteria in two weeks.
Adrian Ruiz, 42, spent the day with his family in Port Aransas, Texas, near Corpus Christi, to celebrate Father’s Day. But that Sunday, Ruiz developed a fever and headache and noticed a rash on his leg.

Ever since the BP Gulf oil spill of 2011, the incidence of cases of flesh-eating bacteria coming directly from the Gulf of Mexico has steadily increased. Bacteria such as Vibrio vulnificus are usually the primary cause of these emergency cases. The subsequent raging infections can spread so quickly that they often necessitate the amputation of a limb.