How to avoid deadly flesh-eating bacteria

MELBOURNE, Fla. — Warm waters and one case of a potentially deadly flesh-destroying bacteria in Brevard County have prompted Florida health officials to urge the public to avoid exposure to the rare bacterial infection.

Brevard's warning came two days after state health officials in Volusia County similarly urged residents and tourists to take precautions to prevent exposure to Vibrio vulnificus, a potentially deadly saltwater bacteria that has killed four people so far this year in Florida.

Across the USA, about 120 people contracted contracted Vibrio vulnificus in 2014; 4 out of 5 were men and their median age was almost 60, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Twenty-one people died.

So far this year, Florida has had 13 cases and four deaths, according to the state health department. Florida had 45 cases and 14 deaths from the bacteria last year.

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“I encourage residents to practice good wound care, as it is the best way to prevent a bacterial skin infection,” the Florida Department of Health interim administrator in Brevard County, Miranda Hawker, said in a release. “Keep open wounds covered with clean, dry bandages until healed and don't delay first aid of even minor, noninfected wounds like blisters, scrapes or any break in the skin.”

While Vibrio vulnificus is often referred to as  “flesh-eating bacteria,” the term is misleading, health officials say.

The bacteria won't decompose healthy, intact skin, even if contacted for long periods of time, according to researchers at Florida Atlantic University-Harbor Branch. People get infected when strains of the bacteria come in contact with open wounds or broken skin or are ingested in large amounts.

Only after the bacteria enters the body can it cause disease in susceptible individuals. The die-off of tissue happens during advanced stages of infection and only with severe infections, researchers said.

The bacteria occurs most often in warm, stagnant inshore waters near freshwater discharge areas, rather than in the ocean, where it can't tolerate high salt levels, according to scientists at Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution in Fort Pierce, Fla​. Indian River Lagoon water temperatures topped 90 degrees Fahrenheit this week, according to several state monitors between Titusville and Vero Beach.

The bacteria can thrive when salt levels dip below 2.5%, according to scientists. This week, state water monitors in the Indian River Lagoon near Melbourne and Vero Beach showed salt levels had dropped to about 1.7% and 2%, respectively.

About half of Vibrio vulnificus infections are deadly when people with pre-existing health conditions eat a contaminated oyster or other seafood. When the bacteria infect a skin wound, odds of survival are much higher.

Vibrio infections tend to happen between May and October, CDC officials said. Warm water and moderate salt levels can increase the number of V. vulnificus organisms in shellfish.

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The bacteria is not a result of pollution, biologists say, but poor stormwater management makes it worse. Heavy rains, large water releases — like those from Lake Okeechobee and those that hit the lagoon region in 2013 and 2014 — can push the pathogen beyond where it’s normally found.

And that’s a concern, given that the more deadly route of the pathogen to humans is via eating shellfish and other seafood.

In May, the Center for Science in the Public Interest filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, with the help of the non-profit Public Citizen, another consumer advocacy group.

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They want the Food and Drug Administration to require low-heat pasteurization or other techniques for killing the bacteria that they say don't affect the taste.​

Without a safety standard, an estimated 30 people will become seriously ill, and 15 of them will die, the groups estimate, because of eating raw shellfish that contain the bacteria.

Follow Jim Waymer on Twitter: @JWayEnviro

Learn about Vibrio vulnificus

Florida Department of HealthVibrio site

Tips for preventing Vibrio vulnificus infections

• Do not eat raw oysters or other raw shellfish.

• Cook shellfish (oysters, clams, mussels) thoroughly.

• For shellfish in the shell, either a) boil until the shells open and continue boiling for 5 more minutes, or b) steam until the shells open and then continue cooking for 9 more minutes. Do not eat those shellfish that do not open during cooking. Boil shucked oysters at least 3 minutes, or fry them in oil at least 10 minutes at 375°F.

• Avoid cross-contamination of cooked seafood and other foods with raw seafood and juices from raw seafood.

• Eat shellfish promptly after cooking and refrigerate leftovers.

• Avoid exposure of open wounds or broken skin to warm salt or brackish water, or to raw shellfish harvested from such waters.

• Wear protective clothing (e.g., gloves) when handling raw shellfish.

Source: Brevard County Health Department