LONG ISLAND (1010 WINS) -- The Connecticut Department of Public Health has issued a formal warning after one person died, and two others were hospitalized, from a rare but severe infection caused by a flesh-eating bacteria found in the Long Island Sound.
One patient reportedly ate raw oysters at a restaurant outside of Connecticut, while two others were infected after stepping into the water, where the bacteria Vibrio vulnificus entered through their open wounds.
All three patients were between 60 and 80 years old, health authorities say. The infections all occurred after July 1. It's unknown whether the patient who died from the infection contracted it from an open wound or from eating raw oysters.
V vulnificus, which belongs to the same genus as the cholera bacteria, thrives in warm salt or brackish water. Infections peak in coastal regions during the months May through October, when the water is warmest.
The bacteria enters the body through exposed wounds or undercooked seafood, particularly shellfish. Though its symptoms are often mild enough that the infection goes undetected, it can lead to necrotizing fasciitis, destroying tissue under the skin.
Connecticut's DPH warned that severe infection may lead to intensive care and amputation of the affected limb.
Though the symptoms of V vulnificus infection are life threatening, there are ways to easily prevent it. The DPH urged people to avoid eating raw seafood, or handling it with open wounds. In brackish waters like the Long Island sound, waterproof bandages will prevent the bacteria from entering.
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