Warning: Vibrio Bacteria in saltwater infect 31, kill 10 in Florida

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Patty Konietzky thought the small purple lesion on her husband's ankle was a spider bite. But when the lesion quickly spread across his body like a constellation, she knew something wasn't right. 

After a trip to the hospital and a day and a half later, Konietzky's 59-year-old husband, Henry “Butch,” was dead. 

The diagnosis — vibrio vulnificus, an infection caused by a bacterium found in warm salt water. It's in the same family of bacterium that causes cholera.