1 dead after two people contract infection along NC coast, officials say. What we know
One person is dead after two people contracted a dangerous bacterial infection along the North Carolina coast, officials said.
The cases involved vibrio, a bacteria found in brackish and salt water, according to the Dare County Department of Health and Human Services. The county is in the eastern part of the state and includes part of the Outer Banks barrier islands.
“It’s important to remember bacteria is naturally in the water,” Sheila Davies, director of the health department, wrote July 25 in a news release. “When you consider we have had hundreds of thousands of visitors so far this summer and only two reported cases of water-related illnesses, the risk of getting sick to the general public remains very low. Commercial fishermen, specifically crabbers, are at a higher risk due to the nature of their job.”
The cases were announced days after the death of 71-year-old Michael “Mike” Gard of Nags Head. Loved ones told the Outer Banks Voice that he was an “avid waterman” who was cut while handling a crab pot in the Albemarle Sound. He reportedly died after contracting necrotizing fasciitis, which can be a result of a vibrio infection.
Health officials in their news release didn’t identify the person who died or say how that person contracted the infection. But they said Dare County’s two vibrio cases occurred between July 20 and July 25.
One of the cases was contracted in the ocean off Nags Head and the other was contracted in “Buzzard Bay — part of the Albemarle Sound — south of Colington Island,” health officials told McClatchy News in an email.
What is vibrio?
“Vibrio infections are often associated with eating raw or under-cooked shellfish such as oysters, clams, shrimp and scallops,” the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services wrote on its website. “Wound infections can occur after getting cuts and scrapes while fishing, swimming or other activities in oceans, sounds, rivers and streams.”
While some people may develop mild cases of vibriosis, others may get seriously sick, including those with underlying health conditions. Experts urge people who believe they might have been infected to get medical help right away. Symptoms include:
- Food-related infections: nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, sepsis, fever, shock
- Wound infections: “pain, swelling, redness, rash, ulceration and breakdown of the skin and surrounding tissues”
To help avoid water-related illnesses, Dare County officials urge people to take precautions, including showering before getting in the water, not swimming with exposed wounds and not swallowing the water.
This story was originally published July 27, 2023 at 9:28 AM with the headline "1 dead after two people contract infection along NC coast, officials say. What we know."
