Five people are confirmed dead in the Tampa Bay area due to a rare, flesh-eating bacteria in the waters.
According to Florida Health, Vibrio vulnificus is a bacterium that naturally occurs in warm, brackish seawater and requires salt.
3 deaths attributed to the bacteria were also reported in New York and Connecticut. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/vibrio-vulnificus-3-dead-rare-bacterial-infection-new-york-connecticut/
Vibrio is generally a nasty genus. It includes this, several other pathogens (like cholera), and it also is the likely source of tetrodotoxin, which is used by things like pufferfish and poisonous salamanders.