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Louisiana confirms nine flesh-eating bacteria cases

August 10, 2026

Louisiana's health department confirms nine Vibrio vulnificus infections this year, above the state's recent average, as Gulf Coast states report cases and deaths.

AP News reports nine confirmed Vibrio vulnificus infections in Louisiana so far this year, a figure the state's health department announced in a recent release. That is elevated for the state: in a typical year of the past decade, AP News reports, Louisiana saw about seven infections and a single death. The Guardian and NBC News both carry those numbers. The New York Times goes further, putting the Louisiana outbreak's toll at five dead, a figure no other outlet in the record repeats.

Beyond Louisiana, the picture across the Gulf is consistent from outlet to outlet. AP News counts 14 infections and two fatalities in Florida to date in 2026, and notes the state closed last year with 33 infections and five dead; Florida usually leads the country in these cases. The Guardian matches every one of those figures. AP News, The Guardian and CBS News agree on the pattern behind the numbers: the bacterium thrives in warm, moderately salty water, so cases concentrate along the Gulf and peak from late spring through early fall. NBC News, with CBS News in agreement, counts at least 10 deaths from the infection across Florida, Louisiana and North Carolina's Outer Banks during 2025.

The coverage reads as a single account carried widely, likely fed by a wire or an official release, and no outlet contradicts another. Settled: the Louisiana and Florida case counts, the seasonal window, the coastal geography. Resting on one outlet: the five Louisiana deaths reported by The New York Times.

Still developing

The Louisiana death toll rests on The New York Times alone; AP News, The Guardian, CBS News and NBC News confirm the state's nine cases without carrying that figure.

How settled the reporting is

Reported 100% · Contested 0% · Developing 0%

Sources