{"id":999397,"date":"2026-08-14T02:43:17","date_gmt":"2026-08-14T02:43:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/999397\/"},"modified":"2026-08-14T02:43:17","modified_gmt":"2026-08-14T02:43:17","slug":"flesh-eating-bacteria-warning-should-galveston-beachgoers-be-concerned","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/999397\/","title":{"rendered":"Flesh-eating\u2019 bacteria warning \u2014 should Galveston beachgoers be concerned?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"Box-_wrDxHtU__Box-sc-10sa3ie-0 Text-nO2aZ44r__TextBase-sc-s2hv5x-0 jJNfBD fSvavs article-text\"><strong>GALVESTON, Texas<\/strong> \u2013 If you\u2019re planning a trip to the beach, this is something worth keeping on your radar.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Box-_wrDxHtU__Box-sc-10sa3ie-0 Text-nO2aZ44r__TextBase-sc-s2hv5x-0 jJNfBD fSvavs article-text\">Louisiana health officials are warning about a spike in Vibrio vulnificus \u2014 a rare but dangerous bacteria found in Gulf waters sometimes referred to as \u201cflesh-eating\u201d bacteria. Louisiana has confirmed nine cases this year. All nine people were hospitalized, and five of them died.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Box-_wrDxHtU__Box-sc-10sa3ie-0 Text-nO2aZ44r__TextBase-sc-s2hv5x-0 jJNfBD fSvavs article-text\">That raises an important question for those heading to Galveston \u2014 should local beachgoers be worried?<\/p>\n<ul class=\"Box-_wrDxHtU__Box-sc-10sa3ie-0 etvbxt font_openSans articleList\">\n<li class=\"Box-_wrDxHtU__Box-sc-10sa3ie-0 Stack-vJ7SwH7U__StackBase-sc-1m5bkhd-0 evEXvX dsnUCb\"\/><\/ul>\n<p class=\"Box-_wrDxHtU__Box-sc-10sa3ie-0 Text-nO2aZ44r__TextBase-sc-s2hv5x-0 jJNfBD fSvavs article-text\">Alyson Miller, a Katy resident who was out on the island Wednesday taking in the waves and the view, says the news gave her pause \u2014 but not enough to keep her away.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Box-_wrDxHtU__Box-sc-10sa3ie-0 Text-nO2aZ44r__TextBase-sc-s2hv5x-0 jJNfBD fSvavs article-text\">\u201cI didn\u2019t really think of it,\u201d Miller said. \u201cI hear about it on the news, but then you come to the beach and it\u2019s just so beautiful.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"Box-_wrDxHtU__Box-sc-10sa3ie-0 Text-nO2aZ44r__TextBase-sc-s2hv5x-0 jJNfBD fSvavs article-text\">Still, she says a close call might change things. \u201cIf I cut my leg or something, I may not come to the beach,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<ul class=\"Box-_wrDxHtU__Box-sc-10sa3ie-0 etvbxt font_openSans articleList\">\n<li class=\"Box-_wrDxHtU__Box-sc-10sa3ie-0 Stack-vJ7SwH7U__StackBase-sc-1m5bkhd-0 evEXvX dsnUCb\"\/><\/ul>\n<p class=\"Box-_wrDxHtU__Box-sc-10sa3ie-0 Text-nO2aZ44r__TextBase-sc-s2hv5x-0 jJNfBD fSvavs article-text\">Others like Nicole Bowen say they tend to avoid the water altogether out of caution, while some rely on family members in the medical field to keep them informed.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Box-_wrDxHtU__Box-sc-10sa3ie-0 Text-nO2aZ44r__TextBase-sc-s2hv5x-0 jJNfBD fSvavs article-text\">\u201cMy sister\u2019s a doctor, so she keeps an eye on that stuff,\u201d Bowen said. \u201cUsually, it\u2019s just in the back of my mind and I take all the safety precautions.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"Box-_wrDxHtU__Box-sc-10sa3ie-0 Text-nO2aZ44r__TextBase-sc-s2hv5x-0 jJNfBD fSvavs article-text\">Dr. Philip Keiser, local health authority for Galveston County, says the area sees about 10 cases of Vibrio vulnificus on average each year. So far this year, there have been five cases and two hospitalizations \u2014 both of which have since resulted in full recoveries. Both infections were linked to pre-existing wounds that were exposed to beach water.<\/p>\n<ul class=\"Box-_wrDxHtU__Box-sc-10sa3ie-0 etvbxt font_openSans articleList\">\n<li class=\"Box-_wrDxHtU__Box-sc-10sa3ie-0 Stack-vJ7SwH7U__StackBase-sc-1m5bkhd-0 evEXvX dsnUCb\"\/><\/ul>\n<p class=\"Box-_wrDxHtU__Box-sc-10sa3ie-0 Text-nO2aZ44r__TextBase-sc-s2hv5x-0 jJNfBD fSvavs article-text\">Keiser says the bacteria can cause serious harm \u2014 and certain people are at greater risk than others.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Box-_wrDxHtU__Box-sc-10sa3ie-0 Text-nO2aZ44r__TextBase-sc-s2hv5x-0 jJNfBD fSvavs article-text\">\u201cIt can get into wounds and cause severe infections of people\u2019s limbs, and it can spread all over the body,\u201d Keiser said. \u201cThe other way people can get it is from eating raw oysters. Any type of chronic liver disease, people who have any other type of immunosuppression \u2014 we\u2019re seeing a lot of that lately \u2014 would put you at higher risk.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"Box-_wrDxHtU__Box-sc-10sa3ie-0 Text-nO2aZ44r__TextBase-sc-s2hv5x-0 jJNfBD fSvavs article-text\">As for why Louisiana is seeing a surge while Galveston\u2019s numbers remain lower, Keiser was unsure but said there was one possible explanation. <\/p>\n<p class=\"Box-_wrDxHtU__Box-sc-10sa3ie-0 Text-nO2aZ44r__TextBase-sc-s2hv5x-0 jJNfBD fSvavs article-text\">\u201cPart of its luck,\u201d Keiser said. \u201cThe bacteria grows better when it\u2019s hot, and the water reaches a certain temperature. It also needs a certain level of salinity to grow well. If you have lots of rain in the area and that runoff is coming into your area, it gets to a sort of sweet spot \u2014 and then the bacteria grows.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"Box-_wrDxHtU__Box-sc-10sa3ie-0 Text-nO2aZ44r__TextBase-sc-s2hv5x-0 jJNfBD fSvavs article-text\">There is a way to monitor conditions before heading to the beach. Keiser recommends checking the<a href=\"https:\/\/www.texasbeachwatch.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" title=\"https:\/\/www.texasbeachwatch.com\/\"> Beach Watch program<\/a> \u2014 a federally funded resource that tracks bacteria levels.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Box-_wrDxHtU__Box-sc-10sa3ie-0 Text-nO2aZ44r__TextBase-sc-s2hv5x-0 jJNfBD fSvavs article-text\">\u201cYou can go look along the beach to see whether there\u2019s basically fecal material in the waters,\u201d Keiser said. \u201cThat primarily comes from runoff from the fields \u2014 mostly from cows. You can check and say, \u2018Oh, this beach has a lot of fecal matter, this one doesn\u2019t.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"Box-_wrDxHtU__Box-sc-10sa3ie-0 Text-nO2aZ44r__TextBase-sc-s2hv5x-0 jJNfBD fSvavs article-text\">For beachgoers who weren\u2019t aware of the resource, the information was a welcome discovery.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Box-_wrDxHtU__Box-sc-10sa3ie-0 Text-nO2aZ44r__TextBase-sc-s2hv5x-0 jJNfBD fSvavs article-text\">\u201cDefinitely, I would check the website,\u201d said Maria Acuna.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Box-_wrDxHtU__Box-sc-10sa3ie-0 Text-nO2aZ44r__TextBase-sc-s2hv5x-0 jJNfBD fSvavs article-text\">The bottom line \u2014 Galveston\u2019s numbers remain within the typical range for this time of year. But with Gulf water temperatures rising and Louisiana seeing an unusual spike, local health officials say awareness and precaution are always the best approach.<\/p>\n<p>Start Here, Houston<\/p>\n<p class=\"Box-_wrDxHtU__Box-sc-10sa3ie-0 Text-nO2aZ44r__TextBase-sc-s2hv5x-0 bTVksG\">More Stories Like This In Our Email Newsletter<\/p>\n<p>Copyright 2026 by KPRC Click2Houston &#8211; All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"GALVESTON, Texas \u2013 If you\u2019re planning a trip to the beach, this is something worth keeping on your&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":999398,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[11],"tags":[400250,48093,6679,400251,400249,210,400248,400247,67,132,68,54369],"class_list":["post-999397","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-health","tag-beachgoer-safety-tips","tag-flesh-eating-bacteria","tag-galveston-county","tag-galveston-health-alert","tag-gulf-coast-bacteria-cases","tag-health","tag-louisiana-bacteria-cases","tag-summer-beach-precautions","tag-united-states","tag-unitedstates","tag-us","tag-vibrio"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/117091566029520475","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/999397","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=999397"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/999397\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/999398"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=999397"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=999397"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=999397"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}