On Mar. 23, 2023, a study published in Scientific Reports warned that vibrio vulnificus is an increasingly recognized human pathogen with a low incidence but a high wound infection fatality rate of ~ 18%. Some Vibrio vulnificus infections lead to necrotizing fasciitis, a severe infection in which the flesh around an open wound dies. Some media reports call this kind of infection ﾓflesh-eating bacteria,ﾔ even though necrotizing fasciitis can be caused by more than one type of bacteria.

The study projections indicate that climate change will have a major effect on V. vulnificus infection distribution and number in Eastern USA, likely due to warming coastal waters favouring presence of bacteria and elevated temperatures leading to more coastal recreation.

By 2041–2060 the coastline where V. vulnificus infections are present increases by over 1000 km under both SSP126 and SSP370 and both tmean and tmax models. This shift increases the population at risk into the densely populated coastal regions of New Jersey and New York. Alongside population growth and an increasingly elderly population, this translates into a doubling of cases by 2041–2060.