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Three people in the Northeast latterly become flat from a rare , " flesh - run through " bacterial infection , wellness official have admonish .
The infection is due to a bacterium calledVibrio vulnificus , which lives in coastal seawater and briny piss , meaning a mixture of salt and freshwater . The microbe and its cousins in theVibriogenus are most prevailing in such environments between May and October . People can be exposed to the bacteria when they swim with open wounds or when they eat raw or undercooked mollusc , admit oysters . Wounds can also become infected if exposed to raw or undercooked seafood , its juices or its drippings , grant to theCenters for Disease Control and Prevention(CDC ) .
Several severe infections caused by the bacteriumVibrio vulnificushave been reported in New York and Connecticut.
But while about a dozenVibriospecies can induce comparatively meek malady in humans , onlyV. vulnificuscan cause life - threatening lesion infections that can conduct to " flesh - feeding . " Medically bed as necrotizing fasciitis , such infection cause the flesh around a wound to chop-chop exit . An count on 1 in 5 infected withV. vulnificusdie , often within a day or two of pic , the CDC caution .
In astatementreleased Wednesday ( Aug. 16 ) , New York wellness functionary announced thatV. vulnificushad been identify in a recently deceased person from Suffolk County on easterly Long Island .
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" The death in Suffolk County is still being investigated to determine if the bacterium was encountered in New York water or elsewhere , " the program line show . " In the meanwhile , the New York State Department of Health this week reminded health charge supplier to consider vibrio vulnificus when run across individuals with severe wound infection or sepsis [ a dangerous , trunk - full immune reaction ] with or without wounding infection . "
The Suffolk County house physician ’s expiry survey threeV. vulnificusinfections latterly report in Connecticut . Between July 1 and July 28 , the Connecticut Department of Public Health was notified of three infections in house physician ages 60 to 80 . All three multitude were hospitalise , and as of Tuesday ( Aug. 15 ) , two had become flat , The Associated Press report .
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The department report that two of the Connecticut subject lead from the soul swimming with open wounds in the salt or brackish waters of Long Island Sound , a body of water located between Connecticut and New York . The third fount was unite to the somebody consuming raw oysters at an out - of - body politic institution ; the oysters were not harvested from Long Island Sound .
People with weakened immune system , liver disease , cancer , diabetes , HIV or the inherit pedigree upset thalassemia have a higher jeopardy of catching and have severe complication fromVibrioinfections , the CDC states .
To help preventVibrioinfections , people with wound or recent piercings or tattoo should avoid exposing their skin to warm seawater in coastal environments , or else traverse their wounds with waterproof bandages , the New York health section send word . Those with compromised immune systems should also avoid eat raw or undercooked mollusk .
And everyone should wear baseball glove when plow raw mollusc and exhaustively wash their hands with soap and urine when wind up , the department suggests .
