‘Flesh-eating’ bacteria is spreading across Europe’s beaches

Experts warn that Mediterranean countries must work together against a rising threat (Picture: Getty Images)

Warmer seas are bringing a little-known and potentially dangerous visitor closer to European beaches.

In recent years, parts of Europe have experienced episodes of pollution and health alerts that have led to restrictions on access to the sea.

Now, as the water gets ever warmer and tourism pressure mounts, concerns are growing over a specific strain of bacteria that is often described as ‘flesh-eating’.

‘[This bacteria] has always been present in coastal waters, it’s not a new or exotic threat,’ Arif Gasilov, partner at environmental consultancy Gasilov Group, tells Metro.

‘However, as warmer seas expand their range due to global warming, this also extends the season in which concentrations reach dangerous levels.

‘This risk concentrates at river mouths, lagoons, places like that with warm water plus reduced salinity. These are also where people tend to swim.’

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The threat

Experts are particularly concerned about the Vibrio bacterium, a family of naturally occurring microorganisms found in warm, brackish coastal waters.

Most strains are harmless. But some – such as Vibrio vulnificus, the one described as ‘flesh-eating’ – can cause severe and, in rare cases, even fatal infections.

The risk is heightened in people with open wounds or weakened immune systems.

In the worst scenarios, infection can trigger necrotising fasciitis, a condition where the tissue around a wound rapidly breaks down.

Bacteria can then enter the bloodstream, causing sepsis. In rare cases, some patients require amputation.

Why the Med?

The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control has warned of an increased risk of infections this summer, particularly during heatwaves and in shallow coastal waters.

And, with the Mediterranean warming around 20 percent faster than the global average, conditions are only getting more suitable for the stuff to grow.

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As Europe swelters through a record heatwave, there is a new threat casting a shadow over tourist plans. Several beaches in Spain have already been closed over the seasonal risk of deadly flesh-eating bacteria known as Vibrio, which thrives in heat. 10’s Late News explains. Click the link in bio for the full bulletin.

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This is because warmer water, especially where it is less salty, becomes a fertile breeding ground for harmful bacteria.

The Mediterranean’s naturally higher salt level has historically suppressed Vibrio vulnificus, making the Baltic and North Sea coasts higher-risk areas for the most dangerous cases.

Now, however, scientists warn that as the Med warms and salt patterns shift, that could change.

‘The Mediterranean isn’t a victim of climate change, it’s a preview of it,’ Hatim Aznague, an analyst for Projects, Climate Action and Energy Resilience at the Union for the Mediterranean, tells Metro.

‘Mediterranean countries need to stop treating this as twenty-plus separate national problems.

‘We share one sea. A warming current or a bacterial bloom doesn’t stop at a border, so the response can’t either.’

The Vibrio bacterium is not the only sign of an evolving marine environment.

In Greece, toxic fish with human-like teeth are running rife just as tourist season gets into full swing.

The silver-cheeked toadfish is a torpedo-shaped species with prominent, razor sharp teeth.

As well as having a vicious bite, it contains a powerful neurotoxin called tetrodotoxin, which can cause heart and lung failure, making the fish unsuitable for human consumption.

Silver-cheeked toadfish (Lagocephalus sceleratus) usually inhabit the Indian Ocean.

However, the fish are believed to have travelled up the Suez Canal and into the Mediterranean, attracted by warming waters.

Fishermen in Greece are now getting cash payouts to catch the fish migrating north into the Mediterranean Sea due to climate change.

What can be done?

The solution, according to Hatim, is cooperation.

‘We need a shared effort so that the countries with the fewest resources aren’t left to cope alone,’ he says.

He wants to see ‘real investment’ in early-warning and monitoring, so that coastal towns across the region get ‘timely, honest information about water quality’.

The most important part, he says, is for the same standard to be applied on every shore, ‘not just the wealthier ones’.

Hatim argues that sticking a plaster on the problem is not enough.

The root causes must be tackled together, ‘not only the warming, but the land-based pollution – the sewage and nutrient run-off’ – that feeds the bacteria in the first place.

For scientists and European policymakers, the Vibrio bacterium is a canary in the coalmine of just how rapidly our world if changing.

As Hatim puts it, ‘bacteria are not the story; they are the messengers. The story is a sea thrown out of balance by heat and pollution.’

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