Coast fisherman loses leg to flesh-eating vibrio vulnificus

If you suffer any type of injury while fishing, from being poked by a fish or jabbed with a hook, wash the wound quickly and thoroughly with copious amounts of bottled or sterile water. If you receive an injury that begins to swell and turn bright red, don’t wait to get medical attention.

Still fights for his life after boat-fishing trip to Horn, Chandeleur islands

It’s only April, but already Mississippi has reported its first case of the deadly infection of vibrio vulnificus, often referred to as flesh eating bacteria, suffered by a fisherman from Ocean Springs.

Gregory Bru began showing symptoms shortly after a fishing trip to the barrier islands on April 11. On April 13, surgeons removed his left leg below the knee. A week later, he remains in Intensive Care Unit of Singing River Hospital where he continues to struggle for his life.

His son, Gregory Bru Jr., told WLOX-TV that his father fished from a boat that day near Horn and Chandeleur islands, but that water had been splashing over their legs in the boat. Within hours of returning to port, his dad began suffering the effects of the infection.

“He’s been fighting a hard battle,” Gregory Bry, Jr., told the television station. “I hope nobody else goes through this. It’s a very dangerous bacteria. … Seven days in the hospital, but he’s still holding strong. It’s definitely a terrible thing to see.”

Mississippi and other northern Gulf of Mexico states report many cases of the disease, including fatalities, each summer. In 2014, a Mississippi man died within a week of becoming infected during a July 4 holiday fishing trip.

It is rare that it shows up this early in the year.

Dr. Okechukwu Ekenna, an infectious disease specialist at Singing River Hospital, told WLOX that April is early for vibrio cases. He said the bacteria thrives in salty brackish waters, primarily during the warmest months of the year and that the organisms generally enter a person’s body through open wounds and a few other ways.

“We get infected with Vibrio primarily through open skin wounds, cuts, inhaling the water, and eating raw oysters, but mostly through cuts,” Ekenna said. He added that getting fast treatment is vital in treating an infection.

“The symptoms usually appear within 24 hours,” Ekenna said, adding that anyone experiencing chills, fever, sores, blisters and swollen areas after Gulf exposure should immediately get to a hospital.

People with comprised immunity systems are at highest risk, but that all who enter the water should take precautions. Ekenna advices against anyone with any cuts or open wounds should not wade in the Gulf during the summer.

For more on vibrio vulnificus, read Death increases focus on bacterial threat.