Plastic Pollution Boosts Growth of Flesh-Eating Bacteria.
Flesh-eating bacteria, including some with "significant pathogenic potential," have been found thriving on plastic pollution and seaweed blooms in the open Caribbean Ocean. Vibrio bacteria can cause life-threatening illnesses like cholera and can even infect wounds, risking life-threatening destruction of surrounding tissue. The floating habitat of these bacteria is expanding in size and washing up on coastlines. The risks associated with these microbes and their capability to cause infections need to be considered.