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A Texas man has died after consuming raw oysters in a restaurant over Labor Day weekend, FOX 26 reported.
Officials said the cause was Vibrio vulnificus, a waterborne bacteria that can infect humans who consume raw or undercooked shellfish, or those who swim in warmer coastal waters with an open wound.
Although comparably rare — only about 150 to 200 such deaths are reported to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention annually — research recently conducted by Florida Atlantic University described “flesh-eating” vibrio bacteria as “the dominant cause of death in humans from the marine environment.”
Floodwaters from Hurricane Idalia have also spread the bacteria throughout southern waters, alarming officials.
The 30-something — whose identity, along with that of the restaurant he ate at, is being shielded by local health officials — had the meal on Tuesday and was hospitalized two days later, succumbing to his illness by the weekend, according to reports.
The man was said to have suffered from underlying health issues.
“He was taking some drugs that made him immunosuppressed,” said Dr. Philip Keiser of the Galveston County Health District, according to ABC 13. “He also had problems with his liver.”
“The conditions that he had really predisposed him to an overwhelming infection,” he explained.
In an effort to learn more about the circumstances, Keiser and his department took steps to find the source of the contamination.
“We’ve actually gone to the restaurant where he was eating, and we pulled the oysters from the shelf. There are tags to them, so we can identify the lots, and the state is actually analyzing them to see if we can find the bug in a particular lot of oysters,” he added.
In July, the bacteria claimed the lives of two Connecticut residents, one from having open wounds in water and the other from consuming raw, contaminated shellfish out of state.
A Long Island resident from Suffolk County also died from vibrio-related complications this summer.
Vibrio can quickly cause sepsis, shock and large blisters that wipe out body tissue, according to the Cleveland Clinic.
Symptoms, which often occur within 24 hours, include nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, dizziness, confusion, fever, chills, skin redness or rash, fluid-filled blisters and a fast heart rate.
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