(WHDH) — A Texas woman who was crabbing in Louisiana has died after she consumed oysters and contracted a flesh-eating bacteria.
KLFY-TV reports that Jeanette LeBlanc was visiting friends and family in September when she ate about two dozen raw oysters in Westwego.
“About 36 hours later she started having extreme respiratory distress, had a rash on her legs and everything,” Vicki Bergquist told the news station.
According to the report, LeBlanc’s condition worsened and she was hospitalized for three weeks after doctors diagnosed her with vibrio.
People are infected with vibrio after eating raw or under-cooked shellfish, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
LeBlanc died on Oct. 15, 2017, after fighting for her life.
CDC estimates that vibriosis causes 80,000 illnesses each year in the United States. About 52,000 of the illnesses are estimated to be the result of eating contaminated food.
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