Trip to Waveland beach cost him a limb, but officials aren’t testing the water

Officials will not be testing water in the Mississippi Sound after a Baton Rouge man lost part of a limb to bacterial infection after visiting a Waveland beach.

Jay Grimes, professor of marine microbiology at the University of Southern Mississippi Gulf Coast Research Lab, said the level of bacteria in the water rises during the summer months.

“It’s always there anyway,” Grimes said. “Testing the water would not tell us anything. As it is getting warmer, there will be more bacteria.”

Man loses part of limb

Richard Empson intended to leave Hancock County on Monday morning and head back home to Baton Rouge with his family after a vacation, but he went to the emergency room at Hancock Medical Center instead, The Advocate reported. Empson’s family told the Baton Rouge newspaper the 69-year-old man contracted flesh-eating bacteria in his leg, presumably after getting in the water on a Waveland beach. The bacteria, the family said, spread into his bloodstream. Empson was taken into surgery on Tuesdsay morning and had part of his leg amputated.

Empson is recovering in intensive care, his family posted on the crowdfunding site You Caring. Empson’s nieces, Elizabeth and Angelle Daggett, are updating the public on Empson’s condition.

There was no water contact advisory in effect in Waveland at the time of Empson’s infection. The Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality on Thursday lifted its only advisory — in the area from 20th Avenue east to Thornton Avenue in Gulfport — after water samples showed “the area has attained acceptable bacteria levels.”

The advisory went into effect on June 23. On Thursday there were water advisories across the Mississippi Gulf Coast, but they are common in the summer months.

What is vibrio?

The Advocate said Empson’s test results have not yet determined if the bacteria in his body was a form of vibrio bacteria.

Vibrio is a strain of naturally occurring bacteria that live in saltwater or brackish water, according to the Department of Marine Resources, and it could cause infection in people through cuts or scrapes if it is present in the water. It could also be contracted as a foodborne illness from eating raw seafood. The strain vibrio vulnificus has been labeled as “flesh-eating bacteria,” the DMR said, “because wound infections may lead to skin breakdown.”

Liz Sharlot, director of communications for the Mississippi State Department of Health, said vibrio is not a “flesh-eating” bacteria. She said that term came about because vibrio causes blisters and skin ailments on the body.

Most strains in South Mississippi carry vibrio vulnificus hemolysin, Grimes said. He said it is dangerous because VVH attaches to red blood cells but also attacks other cells in the body. The vibrio will “poke a hole” in cells, causing them to leak and eventually die, he said.

Testing the water

Grimes said a recent increase in salinity, or salt level, has helped lower vibrio strains in South Mississippi beaches.

“They (vibrio strains) had been steadily increasing until the salinity increase soared,” Grimes said. “It doesn’t like high salinity.”

Grimes said a pre-med student is testing water samples from Gulfport, Biloxi and Ocean Springs to determine salinity levels, which directly correlates to VVH present in the water.

Recently, the salinity level was 3 percent, Grimes said, which is close to open ocean levels. That high number, he said, is a good thing.

In 2015, the MSDH recorded 14 cases of vibrio in the state. Of those cases, six were vibrio vulnificus patients, and there was one fatality reported as a result of the infection. Sharlot said no cases of vibrio have yet been reported to the state for this season.

This story was originally published June 30, 2016 at 6:34 PM with the headline "Trip to Waveland beach cost him a limb, but officials aren’t testing the water."