Suffolk man who died from Vibrio bacterial infection was from Brookhaven, officials say

The Suffolk County resident who died after contracting a rare bacterial infection was a man over the age of 55 from Brookhaven Township, officials said Thursday.

It’s still unclear how he became infected with Vibrio vulnificus, which led to his death from sepsis in late July, according to the Suffolk County Department of Health. There have been 18 cases of Vibrio infections in Suffolk County so far this year, but fatalities are rare.

Suffolk Health officials are investigating the cases in conjunction with the state Health Department.

Vibrio bacteria live in coastal waters and can be found in higher concentrations during the warmer months of May to October. People can become infected after eating raw or undercooked seafood or exposing an open wound to saltwater or brackish water, said Suffolk County Health Commissioner Dr. Gregson Pigott.

“Brackish water is where freshwater meets saltwater,” said Pigott. “We want to reassure people this is not something you're going to worry about at Smith Point Beach or Robert Moses Park or Jones Beach, the ocean beaches … maybe something calmer like in the Great South Bay or in coves in the North Shore where streams or stormwater runoff  meets salt water. That's where Vibrio might be in larger numbers.”

People who have compromised immune systems or cirrhosis of the liver are particularly vulnerable, experts said.

The Suffolk County man had underlying health conditions and a wound on his leg, officials said.

There are different species of Vibrio that cause infections and illness in humans known as vibriosis. Suffolk County officials said. Illnesses are not uncommon but deaths are rare, Pigott said. Suffolk County had 31 cases in 2022 and 29 cases in 2021. This was the first fatal case going back as far as 2016, officials said.

Nassau County officials said there have been 14 cases of vibriosis reported so far in 2021, 21 cases in 2022 and 25 cases in 2021. They do not believe any of these cases were Vibrio vulnificus infections. 

Statewide case numbers were not immediately available.

Vibriosis causes 80,000 illnesses each year in the United States with over half of those attributed to eating contaminated food, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Symptoms of vibriosis include watery diarrhea, abdominal cramping, nausea, vomiting, fever, and chills. People can also get severe infections marked by skin that is red, warm and discolored.

Three people in Connecticut were reported with Vibrio vulnificus infections this summer and two have died, according to the Connecticut State Department of Public Health. All three patients were between the ages of 60 and 80. Two contracted it from the waters off Long Island Sound but they were in two different locations. The third was a Connecticut resident who ate raw oysters at an out-of-state establishment. Those oysters were not harvested from Long Island Sound.

By Lisa L. Colangelo

lisa.colangelo@newsday.com@lisalcolangelo

Lisa joined Newsday as a staff writer in 2019. She previously worked at amNewYork, the New York Daily News and the Asbury Park Press covering politics, government and general assignment.