Warning: Bacteria from Raw Oysters Caused Agonizing Deaths in Multiple States This Year
CORRECTION, Sept. 18, 2023: Vibrio vulnificus bacteria can lead to necrotizing fasciitis — a condition sometimes called “flesh-eating disease” — when an open wound is infected, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. However, that is not the case with infections from eating raw or undercooked shellfish. An earlier version of this article and its headline suggested otherwise. Both have been revised.
At least a dozen Americans have died this year from bacteria linked to raw oysters and stagnant water pools left by hurricanes.
The bacteria, which carries the scientific name of Vibrio vulnificus, claimed its 12th victim over Labor Day weekend when a Texas man died after eating raw oysters, officials announced this week, according to KRIV-TV.
Florida has reported eight deaths this year, with one in New York and two in Connecticut, according to the U.K.’s Daily Mail.
In the Texas case, Dr. Philip Keiser of the Galveston County Local Health Authority said the man, who was in his 30s, had some underlying health issues, according to KRIV.
“He had problems with his liver. He also had some other problems, and he had to take some medication that suppressed his immune system. It just so happens that the conditions that he had really predisposed him to an overwhelming infection with Vibrio vulnificus,” Keiser said.
His choice of meals did not help, James Oliver, a retired professor of microbiology at the University of North Carolina, Charlotte, said, according to NBC’s “Today.”
“Just realize that you’re eating a live animal and you’re eating the intestinal contents of whatever it ate, which typically is Vibrio,” Oliver said.
“If you are a male over the age of 40, and you know you’ve got some liver disease, you want to avoid raw oysters like the plague,” he said.
People who eat bacteria-laden food suffer nausea, diarrhea, abdominal pain and vomiting that can lead to a high fever, chills and sepsis, the Daily Mail reported. Oliver said if those symptoms occur, a patient needs help fast.
“Speed is essential. These are the fastest-growing bacteria known to man,” Oliver said.
“These infections, once they take hold, can spread extremely rapidly, like a fire,” Keiser said, according to KTRK-TV.
Keiser said Galveston County has five to 10 cases per year and a fatality “every few years.”
The Daily Mail noted that the bacteria thrive in warm coastal waters and can contaminate shellfish. A report in U.S. News and World Report in March noted that warnings about the bacteria were being issued farther north than its traditional Gulf Coast home.
Infection also can occur through an open wound. In some of those cases, the bacteria can result in the “flesh-eating disease,” according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“Some Vibrio vulnificus infections lead to necrotizing fasciitis, a severe infection in which the flesh around an open wound dies. Some media reports call this kind of infection ‘flesh-eating bacteria,’ even though necrotizing fasciitis can be caused by more than one type of bacteria,” the CDC said on its website.
Florida officials this month were warning residents of the potential health danger brought by Hurricane Idalia.
CDC warns doctors to be on the lookout for deadly flesh-eating bacteria https://t.co/JFkjw8QelX
— KTLA (@KTLA) September 5, 2023
The Florida Department of Health issued a warning that said, “Following Idalia, flooding can pose potential health and safety risks, including Vibrio vulnificus that could travel inland with storm surge. Avoid walking or wading in standing water, especially if you have any open wounds.”
The bacteria “shouldn’t be taken lightly,” Florida Health Department press secretary Jae Williams said, according to “Today.”
“It needs to be treated with proper respect — the same way we respect alligators and rattlesnakes,” Williams said.
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