
A woman died because of a flesh-eating bacterium contracted after eating raw oysters.
BEACON TRANSCRIPT – Specialists point out that you should always cook fish and shellfish before consuming it. These marine animals can contract different viruses which could be deadly to people.
This was the case with a woman from Texas. She developed a fatal condition after eating raw oysters. The woman was infected with Vibrio, a flesh-eating bacteria.
How Eating Raw Oysters Led to a Woman’s Death
In September 2017, Jeanette LeBlanc went with her family and friends to the coast of Louisiana. They were crabbing. On this trip, the woman along with her friend, Karen Bowers, ate two dozen raw oysters.
After a short period of time, LeBlanc started feeling sick. She developed breathing problems and a big rash on her legs. Her family and friends believed that it was a simple allergic reaction. The woman’s condition got worse in the first 48 hours after eating the raw oysters.
Doctors then discovered that she was infected with the flesh-eating bacteria named Vibrio. LeBlanc started developing severe wounds on both of her legs, ones caused by the bacteria. The woman continued fighting with the condition for 21 days. Unfortunately, she died on October, 15th 2017.
Following her death, her friends and family are trying to raise awareness of this risk before other people get sick.
More About the Vibrio Bacteria
The Vibrio bacteria can be found in the waters of coastal areas. This type of bacterium is abundant every year from May to October. At that time of the incident, the water was warm.
The CDC warns people not to consume any marine animal without cooking it first because they could get infected with Vibrio and other bacteria.
This bacterium causes more than 80,000 illnesses every year in the US. From these, around 100 result in death. Some of the condition’s symptoms include vomiting, rashes, and diarrhea.
In more severe cases, people suffer from breathing problems and skin lesions. Around 1 in 4 people who have a serious form of this condition die.
Image Source: MaxPixel