Bacteria Found in Raw Oysters Linked To Serious Infections in the Northeast
A food safety experts explains how you can stay safe.
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Oysters are delicious, decadent and, in many respects, downright healthy. They’re packed with protein, vitamins, minerals and antioxidants. Plus, there’s long-standing contention that eating raw bivalve molluscs, particularly oysters, stimulates libido — so you can add “sexy” to the list of adjectives used to describe them.
But now, thanks to recent reports that a bacteria found in raw and undercooked oysters and other shellfish — Vibrio vulnificus — has sickened and even killed people in two states, you may find yourself adding yet another one: scary.
“Three people in the New York City area have died in recent weeks and a fourth person was hospitalized after contracting infections from a flesh-eating bacteria that can be caused by eating raw oysters or swimming in saltwater,” The New York Times reported, citing information from New York and Connecticut health officials.
While infections from Vibrio vulnificus are rare, they are extremely dangerous — about one in every five people who are infected die, sometimes within one or two days of infection, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and those who survive often end up in intensive care or having limbs amputated.
What does this mean for oyster lovers everywhere? We asked Toby Amidor, MS, RD, CDN, FAND, Food Network contributor and award-winning nutrition expert, to weigh in.
Vibrio vulnificus is generally found in coastal waters where oysters live, such as the Gulf of Mexico. “Because oysters feed by filtering the water, the bacteria can concentrate in their tissues,” Amidor explains. “Usually during the warm summer months there is an increase in the vibrio bacteria, but illnesses have been reported year round.”
Amidor says people in high-risk populations, such as older adults, young children under the age of six, pregnant and lactating women, people on medications and those with compromised immune systems, are most vulnerable to illness from Vibrio vulnificus. Symptoms of the illness may include bloody diarrhea, which may be accompanied by stomach cramps, nausea, vomiting and fever.
“Some Vibrio vulnificus infections lead to necrotizing fasciitis, which the media reports as ‘flesh-eating bacteria,’ but it’s a severe infection in which the flesh around the wound dies,” Amidor says. She recommends that high-risk populations avoid raw oysters and only consume them cooked, which, when they are cooked to proper minimum internal temperatures, can make them safe to eat.
Does that mean we all need to avoid eating seafood — especially oysters — entirely? Amidor says no, if you are in good health, you should be fine. However, those who fall into those high-risk categories cited above may be vulnerable and should avoid eating raw oysters. “If you are concerned, you can always skip the raw oysters and cook them,” she says, noting that you should always buy oysters from a reputable supplier who sources the oysters from safe locations.
In general, she says, cooking oysters, rather than consuming them raw, ordering them at a restaurant that uses a reputable supplier and purchasing them directly from a reputable supplier are the best ways to stay safe.
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