Flesh-Eating Bug Causes Amputation after 'Safe, Clean Gulf' Swim

Another person who scraped a leg in the Gulf of Mexico has had an amputation after the injury was infected with the flesh-eating bacteria, Vibrio vulnificus.

Margaret Freiwald scraped her leg while enjoying the Gulf of Mexico waters on July 20, according to WFTS.

Her wound became infected with Vibrio vulnificus, the bacteria found in the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico that has increased since the BP Gulf oil catastrophe.

Believing BP ads and Barack Obama’s statements about the Gulf water being clean and safe, Freiwald went with a group from the Fraternal Order of Eagles to swim in the Gulf between Hernando and Bayport channels.

She simply scraped her shin getting back into a boat.

The next morning, Freiwald left for a vacation to Naples. By nighttime, however, her leg started to look infected.

Three days later, doctors had to amputate her leg above the knee.
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The Vibrio vulnificus can be cause a serious flesh-eating disease if ingested in contaminated water or enters the human body through open wounds, even a wound as small as a mosquito bite – or any small scratch one might not even be aware exists.

People with weakened immune system are 80 times more likely to develop a serious illness if they are in contact with Vibrio. 

The oil-Vibrio connection

In March 2012, research by scientists at Auburn University confirmed that the killer bacterium Vibrio vulnificusis was in tar balls – over 100 times more than in the surrounding water.

That was one thing that the petrochemical-military-industrial-complex (PMIC) forbade Vessels of Opportunity (VOO) clean-up workers from warning children and their parents about as they played on poisoned Gulf beaches.

Some tar balls along the Gulf coast are so large, they’ve been renamed “tar logs.”

CDC says about Vibrio vulnificusbacteria under its “Emergency Preparedness” tab:

“Wound infections may start as redness and swelling at the site of the wound that then can progress to affect the whole body. V. vulnificus typically causes a severe and life-threatening illness characterized by fever and chills, decreased blood pressure (septic shock), and blood-tinged blistering skin lesions (hemorrhagic bullae). Overall, V. vulnificus infections are fatal about 40 percent of the time. Wound infections with V. vulnificus are fatal about 20 percent of the time, and aggressive surgical treatment can prevent death.

“V. vulnificus is found in oysters and other shellfish in warm coastal waters during the summer months. Since it is naturally found in warm marine waters, people with open wounds can be exposed to V. vulnificus through direct contact with seawater, shellfish, and marine wildlife. There is no evidence of person-to-person transmission ofV. vulnificus.” (Vibrio vulnificus, “After a Disaster, DISASTER RECOVERY FACT SHEET,” CDC:  http://emergency.cdc.gov/disasters/vibriovulnificus.asp, cited in Vampire of Macondo)

“It is important to remember that this isn’t a fleeting threat to those of us who live, work and play along the Gulf Coast,” reported EcoWatch in March 2011.

Tar balls are continuously wash ashore coasts of the Gulf of Mexico. (Brian Handwerk, “BP Oil Spill’s Sticky Remnants Wash Up Sporadically On Gulf Beaches,” National Geographic, 22 March 2012: http://tiny.cc/jid5cw, in Vampire of Macondo)

“We’ve been reassured time and time again from the oil industry, particularly BP, that these tar balls do not pose a single threat to human health.” (Mike Utsler, “BP: Tarballs pose no elevated risk to Gulf Coast,” Press Register, 25 Sept. 2011, cited in Vampire of Macondo)

The oily, dying Gulf’s threat of serious life-changing bacterial infection is not only real. It is also persistent.

The Gulf of Mexico is about as clean as the politics and industry that control it.

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Reporter, author and human rights professional for over 30 years, Deborah Dupré exposes lies and truths about the Gulf of Mexico oil operation In her book,“VAMPIRE of MACONDO: Life, Crimes and Curses in South Louisiana that Powerful Forces Don’t Want You to Know.” In “Vampire of Macondo,” Dupré exposes covered-up facts and victims’ gut-wrenching stories about the 2010 BP/government Gulf oil catastrophe, a continuing humanitarian and environmental historical event.