Two people are dead after they contracted a bacterium that eats meat that eats raw oysters in Louisiana, said a state health official.
The deaths were due to vibrio vulnificus, a bacterium that naturally occurs in warm and more common coastal waters between May and October.
Vibrium bacteria can cause diseases when an open wound is exposed to coastal waters or when a person eats raw or little cooked seafood, according to health officials.
In addition to the two deaths related to oysters, two other people with bacteria have died this year in Louisiana, according to the Louisian health department.
“Many people with vibrio vulnificus infection can get severely ill and need intensive care or limb amputation,” the department said. “Around one in five people with this infection dies, sometimes within one or two days of getting sick.”
The State has experienced “a greater number” of cases and deaths of vibrio vulnificus this year, said the department.
So far this year, 22 cases have been reported that led to hospitalizations among Louisiana residents. More than 80% of the informed cases arose from the exposure of wounds open to seawater.
“During the same period of time in the last 10 years, an average of seven cases of vibrio vulnificus and a death have been reported every year in Louisiana,” the department said in a press release in July.
Oyster -related deaths were reported this week at a meeting of the Louisian Oyster Task Force that included a data presentation on all diseases related to Louisiana’s oyster consumption.
One person was a resident of Louisiana, and the other was out of the state, said the spokesman.
In Florida, the State Health Department has reported 23 cases of vibrio vulnificus this year, resulting in five deaths.
