United States: Officials confirmed that two people died after consuming Louisiana oysters infected with the flesh-eating bacteria Vibrio vulnificus.
A health department official in the state reported that the two deaths occurred after individuals consumed oysters that were harvested in Louisiana in two different restaurants, one in Louisiana and the other in Florida.
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Louisiana Department of Health molluscan shellfish program administrator Jennifer Armentor said that 14 additional individuals are infected.
There are 34 infected and six dead in 2025 alone, a worse rate than any previous year of the last decade.
“It’s just prolific right now,” Armentor told the Louisiana Oyster Task Force on Tuesday at the New Orleans Lakefront Airport, as wbrz.com reported.
Two new deaths from flesh-eating bacteria reported eating Louisiana oysters https://t.co/4huzao556T pic.twitter.com/bsAwCEicAz
— WAFB (@WAFB) August 27, 2025
WBRZ has interviewed the CEO of Jones Creek Cafe and Oyster Bar, George Shaheen, concerning this news and the way seafood restaurants have managed to keep their oysters tasty and safe.
Shaheen is the owner of his business and has almost 40 years of experience.
“Well, over the years, we haven’t had as much of that as you would actually think because the way that the Wildlife and Fisheries and the Department of Health have created a bond between the fishermen who are out there fishing and how things need to be done and handled,” as Shaheen mentioned.
Shaheen informed WBRZ that he sources his oysters at Delacroix Island, which he used to fish, and that he has absolute confidence in the harvesters of the oysters.
“You have to go out, and when you go on a boat and you’re an oyster fisherman out there, you can stay out there, I think it’s 72 hours if you have a way to cool the oysters when they come in,” Shaheen continued.
Shaheen presented WBRZ with some tickets that are tied to oyster sacks. The tickets indicate where the oysters were picked and the date they were picked.
Furthermore, as Shaheen mentioned, “It basically is really the key to being able to, if something happens somewhere, they know right where to go. According to the Department of Health, we have to keep these for 90 days. We get checked every 120 days.”
“Now, they use limestone out in the marsh to basically grow the oysters on, and they’re much cleaner. The difference between you getting them out of the marsh mud and being on a Limestone is that they’re much cleaner,” Shaheen added.
In Louisiana, there is legislation that requires restaurants to have visible signage or messages relating to the threat of consuming raw seafood.
“Yes, cause you never know what’s in the ocean and what gets inside these oysters, so if they’re not cooked, you can easily get bacteria, so you have to put a warning out for people,” as per Jones Creek bartender Amanda Steele.