Oyster lovers in Florida are being told to give up their favourite food or
risk death, particularly if they have liver disease. A bacterium hazardous
to people with liver disease or a compromised immune system is ubiquitous in
the warm waters around the Florida coast and gets into the oysters.
Vibrio vulnificus claimed 44 lives in Florida between 1981 and 1992, 35 of
the deaths being associated with eating raw oysters.
