Family members are mourning the loss of a woman they say got an infection after eating raw oysters while visiting New Orleans.
Family members write that Rae Ann Kelsch, 58, was in intensive care at Ochsner and that doctors believe she got an overwhelming bacterial infection after eating raw oysters.
Medical Watch has done stories over the years about vibrio vulnificus, a naturally occurring bacterium in salt and brackish water. It can get in your system through a cut or by eating undercooked shellfish.
Healthy people don't need to worry about getting sick, but people with liver disease are at very high risk, as well as people with diabetes, kidney disease, cancer, people who take acid-suppressing medications, steroids or immunosuppressant medications.
Her husband Tom Kelsch reported that they were visiting a niece and nephew in the area and that family was at her side when she passed away.
Oysters with vibrio don't look, taste or smell differently. The only way to make sure they are safe, is to eat them cooked.