Florida health officials are warning residents and visitors statewide about a deadly flesh-eating bacteria after one person in Sarasota County died and another was sickened by the infection.
The Florida Department of Health said the patient who died contracted the bacterium Vibrio vulnificus after salt water entered an open wound. Officials said both Sarasota patients were middle-aged and had medically compromising conditions.
Health officials are now warning against the following:
- Eating raw oysters
- Exposing open wounds to coastal and inland waters
That includes coastal and intracoastal waters in Brevard, Flagler and Volusia counties.
The death comes amid concerns about the bacteria thriving in warmer water temperatures during Florida's summer months.
Vibrio is an infection caused by a bacteria found in warm salt water. It's in the same family of bacterium that causes cholera.
The bacterium is not new. It occurs naturally in coastal waters, especially in the summer months. Symptoms include:
- Stomach illness
- Fever or shock after eating raw seafood, especially oysters
- Wound infection after exposure to seawater or brackish water
The bacteria infection is usually treated with antibiotic therapy, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
So far in 2014, there have been 11 cases reported in Florida. In 2013, a total of 41 cases of Vibrio vulnificus were reported.
Vibrio vulnificus cases reported in Florida, 2013–14
| COUNTY | 2013 CASES | 2013 DEATHS | 2014 CASES |
2014 DEATHS |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| BREVARD | 2 | 0 | ||
| BROWARD | 5 | 2 | ||
| CHARLOTTE | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| CITRUS | 1 | 1 | ||
| COLLIER | 1 | 0 | ||
| DIXIE | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| DUVAL | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| ESCAMBIA | 2 | 0 | ||
| FLAGLER | 1 | 1 | ||
| GADSDEN | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| GLADES | 1 | 1 | ||
| GULF | 1 | 0 | ||
| HERNANDO | 1 | 0 | ||
| HILLSBOROUGH | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| JACKSON | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| LEE | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
| LEON | 2 | 1 | ||
| MANATEE | 2 | 0 | ||
| MARION | 3 | 0 | ||
| MONROE | 1 | 1 | ||
| NASSAU | 1 | 0 | ||
| OKALOOSA | 1 | 1 | ||
| ORANGE | 1 | 0 | ||
| PINELLAS | 3 | 0 | ||
| SANTA ROSA | 1 | 1 | ||
| ST. JOHNS | 1 | 0 | ||
| SARASOTA | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| SUWANNEE | 1 | 0 | ||
| TAYLOR | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| VOLUSIA | 2 | 0 | ||
| WALTON | 1 | 1 | ||
| Total: | 41 | 11 | 11 | 2 |
Source: Florida Dept. of Health