The potentially deadly Vibrio bacteria has turned up in oysters, reportedly from Louisiana, in Florida. A Fort Lauderdale customer died and a Pensacola also died of the same kind of bacteriological infection.
Gary Oreal, the manager of the Rustic Inn is quoted the Times-Picayune/New Orleans Advocate as saying: “Over the course of 60 years, we have served a couple billion oysters, and we never had anyone get sick like this guy did.”
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says Vibriosis infections affect 80,000 people a year in the U.S., but only about a hundred die of it.
“We passed with flying colors and we were allowed to continue to sell oysters,” Oreal said their supply of oysters came from Louisiana. “If there was a problem with the oyster bed we would know it because others would have gotten sick.”
The restaurant posts signs about the potential dangers of eating raw oysters, but they are always popular with restaurant patrons.
“Oysters are top of the mountain for dangerous foods to eat,” Oreal told the paper. “I have eaten them my entire life, and will continue. But you are putting yourself at risk when you do it.”
The Florida Department of Health says 26 people have come down with Vibrosis and six of them have died.
Just last week, a Pensacola man bought oysters from a market. He died after contracting the bacteria infection. The oysters reportedly came from Louisiana.