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Hurricane Ian came ashore on Florida's southwest coast on the afternoon of September 28, 2022, a category 4 storm with 150 mph winds, pushing a storm surge 12–18 feet above ground level in parts of Lee and Collier counties. The water it left behind carried a danger of its own. In the following weeks, 38 people in those two counties developed vibriosis linked to the storm, and 11 died.
The bacteria
Vibrio bacteria thrive in warm salty or brackish water — exactly the water a storm surge pushes ashore. They cause stomach illness when people eat raw or undercooked shellfish, and skin infections when an open wound meets salt or brackish water. Vibrio vulnificus can cause life-threatening illness; signs include fever, chills, a drop in blood pressure (septic shock) and skin lesions.
The numbers
In a normal year about three cases would be expected in southwest Florida in the two weeks during and after such a storm. Instead, from September 29 to October 23, there were 38 culture-confirmed cases — an 1,100 percent increase over the five-year median.
| Hurricane Ian vibriosis, Lee and Collier counties | |
|---|---|
| Cases | 38 (29 V. vulnificus; others V. cholerae non-O1, V. parahaemolyticus, V. fluvialis and other species) |
| Median age | 80 (range 51–94); 79% men |
| Onset | 34 of 36 with known dates within 6 days of landfall |
| How exposed | 33 wound infections from storm surge or flood water; 2 unclear wounds; 2 prolonged exposure while trapped or evacuating; 1 drank flood water |
| Hospitalized | 36, for a median of 10 days (1–51) |
| Outcomes | 8 skin grafts, 3 lower-leg amputations, 8 moved to nursing or rehab facilities |
| Deaths | 11 (case fatality 28.9%), 9 from V. vulnificus |
The high death rate may reflect how old many of the patients were.
Surge height matters
| Storm | Storm surge | Vibriosis cases linked |
|---|---|---|
| Katrina, 2005 | over 25 ft, the highest in U.S. history | 22, all within 7 days of landfall |
| Irma, 2017 (Florida) | 5–6 ft | 6 — about a sixth of Ian's |
| Ian, 2022 | 12–18 ft | 38 |
What helps
During the response, Florida warned residents statewide not to wade in flood or standing water after the storm, especially with open wounds, and to seek prompt medical care for symptoms. The report adds that warning the public and clinicians before a storm with a large surge might prevent cases and speed diagnosis. With hurricane-related wound infections, clinicians should consider V. vulnificus; aggressive wound care and prompt antibiotics are essential to survival.
Sources
Based on "Notes from the Field: Vibriosis Cases Associated with Flood Waters During and After Hurricane Ian — Florida, September–October 2022," by Nicole Sodders and colleagues of the Florida Department of Health and its Lee and Collier county offices, Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; a work of the United States government in the public domain.
Лицензия: CC0 1.0 (общественное достояние) · По материалам www.cdc.gov
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