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IS FLESH-EATING DISEASE ON RISE?
New Chesapeake Bay Foundation report highlights danger to humans of a bacteria found in the bay's polluted waters
Date published: 7/7/2009
BY FRANK DELANO
The prick that morning from a catfish fin was nothing new to Stanley Oliff. "It didn't even bleed. I paid no attention to it," said Oliff, who has worked most of his 72 years as a commercial fisherman in the Rappahannock River. That night at his Richmond County home, Oliff said he noticed a little whelp on his hand where the catfish had stung him. By 11:30 p.m., he was shaking with a 104-degree fever and on his way to the emergency room in a Tappahannock hospital. "The doctor knew what it was: Vibrio vulnificus, the bad kind," Oliff said. The often-fatal infection from the bacteria in the water kept Oliff hooked up to intravenous antibiotics in the hospital for the next seven days. The treatments continued another six days at home. "My arm swelled up as big as a football. The skin blistered and peeled off my forearm. The doctor told me five days in a row that I could die anytime. It was not a pleasant time," Oliff said. Vibrio infections can also come from eating raw or undercooked seafood. "That's why I don't eat raw oysters anymore," said Oliff. The dangers of the bacteria are highlighted in a new Chesapeake Bay Foundation report being released today about hazards to human health caused by the bay's polluted waters. The report demands that the EPA enforce laws to reduce pollution in the estuary to make it safe for swimming and fishing. Incidents of Vibrio infections are rare. Only 33 occurrences were reported in Virginia in 2007. But infections from the flesh-eating bacteria are apparently much more commonplace among Northern Neck watermen. Mark Allen, 44, of Coles Point in Westmoreland County scratched his left leg while crabbing on his boat in 2005. The next day, he said he felt like he was coming down with the flu and went to bed.
Date published: 7/7/2009
no more
(posted by
elongtin12
, July 7, 2009 1:00 pm)
sushi for me...
bucks
(posted by
wildbill56
, July 7, 2009 12:36 pm)
But my boots are Red WIngs....
cobra wrote
(posted by
GBrody
, July 7, 2009 11:21 am)
"'The doctor knew what it was: Vibrio vulnificus, the bad kind,' Is there a good kind?" The kind that kills Democrats. (I kid, I kid)
Bad kind...
(posted by
cobra
(Admin)
, July 7, 2009 9:45 am)
"The doctor knew what it was: Vibrio vulnificus, the bad kind,"
Is there a good kind?
Chesapeake Bay
(posted by
bucks
, July 7, 2009 9:19 am)
Well if you are from these parts, it's whelp not welt. Go back to NY Wild Bill and take your sarcasm and fake boots with you.
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