Page 128 - South Mississippi Living - June, 2024

SPORTS & OUTDOORS
Salt Water
KILLERS
The Warmer the Water, the Bigger the Danger
A killer lurks in the Gulf of Mexico and associated waters. It kills one in every five people it encounters.
This killer isn’t a huge shark with its own dramatic theme song, nor even a giant squid or the legendary kraken. No human ever saw this killer without a microscope, but it can devastate flesh. Many people call it a “flesh-eating virus,” but it’s bacteria, living single-celled organisms called Vibrio Vulnificus.
“This is one of the most severe types of infections from this genus of bacteria,” explains Dr. Benjamin Brock with the University of Mississippi Medical Center who specializes in infectious diseases. “The onset is fairly quick. Even with proper treatment, the outcomes are still 20 percent mortality.”
These microscopic creatures live inside algae growing in salty or brackish waters. As the water warms in the summer, algae blooms. The warmer the water, the more algae, the more bacteria and the more danger.
People can contract this disease two ways. They can get it from eating raw or undercooked seafood, especially filter-feeders like oysters that ingest the bacteria. People could also get it from eating undercooked crabs, shrimp or any fish species.
“It primarily affects people with weakened immune systems,” Dr. Brock advises. “People with cirrhosis of
the liver, transplants, cancer or on immune-suppressant medicines should avoid eating raw or undercooked fish or shellfish. People who come down with it by consuming food might experience diarrheal illnesses.”
People also get this disease through open sores or wounds exposed to salt water. People cleaning or handling fish without gloves or who cut a finger, nick themselves with a hook or suffer any other injury might contract the disease even if the fish look perfectly normal
128 | June 2024
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