NEW ORLEANS (WVUE) - Louisiana state health officials confirm that three more people have been infected with vibrio vulnificus, a flesh-eating bacteria, in the past month.

The Louisiana Department of Health says 20 people have been hospitalized with such infections this year, and four of them died.

Doctors say vibrio can cause serious infections, especially in people who have open cuts or weakened immune systems. They say people can also get infected by eating raw or undercooked seafood, especially oysters, from exposed waters.

The LDH confirms some residents have been exposed in Louisiana, while others were exposed in other states along the Gulf Coast.

“If we would see multiple exposures on a specific waterway, we would report that,” said Theresa Sokol with the Department of Health. “

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