US Flesh-Eating Bacteria Death Toll Reaches 8 as Florida Reports 3 Fatal Cases

Q: Does thoroughly cooking your oysters completely eliminate the risk of contracting this deadly flesh-eating bacteria?

Yes—thoroughly cooking oysters kills Vibrio bacteria, including Vibrio vulnificus, and greatly reduces the foodborne risk from eating them. That said, “completely eliminate” is a little too absolute in real-world food safety. The protection depends on the oysters actually being cooked all the way through and on avoiding cross-contamination afterward from raw shellfish, raw juices, knives, cutting boards, or hands. Health agencies consistently advise people not to eat raw or undercooked oysters and to cook them thoroughly instead. A commonly cited safety benchmark is cooking shellfish to an internal temperature of 145°F (63°C) for at least 15 seconds. Proper handling matters too: keep raw and cooked shellfish separate and wash hands and surfaces after handling raw oysters. It is also important to remember that cooking oysters only addresses the risk from eating contaminated shellfish. It does not protect against the other major route of Vibrio vulnificus infection—open wounds exposed to warm saltwater or brackish water, or to raw seafood drippings. People with liver disease, diabetes, cancer, HIV, weakened immune systems, iron overload, or those taking immune-suppressing or acid-reducing medicines face the highest risk of severe illness. So the practical answer is that properly cooked oysters are a much safer choice and should prevent infection from the oyster itself, but safe preparation and avoiding wound exposure remain essential.

3 articles · Updated · Yahoo! Voices · Aug 25

An eighth U.S. death from Vibrio vulnificus was recorded in Bay County, Florida, after exposure linked to contaminated seawater or oysters, bringing this year’s toll to three deaths in Florida and five in Louisiana.
Nearly 30 cases have been confirmed across Gulf Coast states, with Louisiana reporting nine cases—above its usual annual average of seven cases and one death.
Vibrio infections kill about 1 in 5 patients and can rapidly trigger bloodstream infection, blistering skin lesions, septic shock and tissue death that sometimes leads to amputation.
The U.S. logs about 150 to 200 vibriosis infections a year, roughly half in Gulf states, with risk rising from May to October as coastal waters warm.
Health officials say people with liver disease, diabetes, HIV or other weakened immune conditions face the highest danger and should avoid raw shellfish and exposing open wounds to warm salt or brackish water.