Death toll rises from oysters contaminated with flesh-eating bacteria

Two more people have died after consuming oysters contaminated with the vibrio vulnificus flesh-eating bacteria.

There have been a total of34 infections in Louisiana, US, with the state's overall death toll now at six. The situation is “just prolific right now”, according to Jennifer Armentor, molluscan shellfish program administrator at the Louisiana Department of Health.

Vibrio vulnificus are becoming an annual threat along the Gulf Coast and the Eastern Seaboard of the US. Vibrio bacteria thrive in seawater and in the mix of fresh and saltwater found in estuaries and lagoons. Most infections are reported from May to October, and most happen in states along the Gulf Coast.

READ MORE: Boy, 8, dies after being attacked by family dog as teen sister watched in horror

READ MORE: Virginia Giuffre 'sent to have sex with Prince Andrew for FOURTH time' in bombshell claim

The Gulf’s water is "the perfect convergence of the right amount of salt and the right amount of heat to let this organism proliferate,” said Dr Fred Lopez, an infectious diseases specialist at the LSU Health Sciences Centre in New Orleans.

Some people become infected by eating raw or undercooked shellfish, particularly oysters. But a large percentage fall ill when the person is in ocean or brackish water, with the bacteria entering the body through small breaks in the skin.

A total of 22 cases in Louisiana have led to hospitalisations, with around 80 per cent linked to open wounds. Florida has also reported five deaths from 23 cases this year.

Antibiotics used to treat food poisoning cases don't work as well when the germ enters through breaks in the skin, Dr Lopez added. “They may require multiple surgeries to remove dead or infected tissue, and sometimes require amputation,” he said.

Doctors say severe cases are seen more often in elderly patients, people with weakened immune systems, and those with liver disease, diabetes and certain chronic illnesses.

“Many people with Vibrio vulnificus infection can become seriously ill and need intensive care or limb amputation,” the Louisiana Health Department said. “About one in five people with this infection dies, sometimes within a day or two of becoming ill.”

People should listen to the warnings, said Bernie Stewart, a 65-year-old retired bounty hunter in Florida who counts himself lucky to have survived an infection.

In August 2019, Stewart's right leg was infected while he was kayak fishing in Pensacola Bay. What at first appeared to be a sun blister led to three months in the hospital, where doctors performed 10 surgeries to remove decaying skin and prevent the bacteria from killing him. “This ain't nothing to play with,” Stewart said.