Laura Barajas had all four limbs amputated after contracting the aggressive bacteria Vibrio vulnificus, likely from undercooked tilapia.
San Jose Mom Loses Arms and Legs After Eating Fish Contaminated with Flesh-Eating Bacteria
by Anonymous | reply 114 | September 29, 2023 6:59 AM |
JFC.
I hate tilapia, anyway. It's a nasty fish.
by Anonymous | reply 1 | September 18, 2023 10:18 PM |
Tilapia is a bottom feeder so if you undercook it or ceviche it (which I suspect may have been the case) you're not too bright.
That's a sad way to almost die, not sure I'd want to live after that.
by Anonymous | reply 2 | September 18, 2023 10:20 PM |
Fucking hell.
by Anonymous | reply 3 | September 18, 2023 10:20 PM |
oh my god what if her nose itches. that's terrible
by Anonymous | reply 4 | September 18, 2023 10:22 PM |
My grandma told me to cook all meat to shoe leather. She was right. Undercooked meat of any kind is extremely dangerous.
by Anonymous | reply 5 | September 18, 2023 10:23 PM |
I call BS on this whole entire story. Nobody can just lose their arms and legs. They’re right there dangling from your torso!!!
by Anonymous | reply 6 | September 18, 2023 10:23 PM |
They fell off at the restaurant.
by Anonymous | reply 7 | September 18, 2023 10:24 PM |
If u knew there was even 0.1% of this happening if u ate a certain food WHO needs that saud food THAT badly? I feel incredibly shocked and distressed this could and has happened. Beyond sad..and I too dunno if I'd rather just have died. 😒
by Anonymous | reply 8 | September 18, 2023 10:35 PM |
OMG!! Nobody regularly has tilapia on the menu, do they? Isn’t it always just the daily special for whatever piece of frozen fish that they found floating around the bottom of the freezer? Then they put in on the menu as the “tilapia” special to pawn it off on someone?
She lost all four of her limbs trying to save a few bucks by ordering the daily special?? This is HORRIFYING.
by Anonymous | reply 9 | September 18, 2023 10:37 PM |
Tilapia is a horrible fish and I suspect often switched out for other fish on restaurant menus because it's cheap.
by Anonymous | reply 10 | September 18, 2023 10:57 PM |
R5, a friend who regularly travels to India only eats vegetarian food when over there. Doesn't seem to get sick.
by Anonymous | reply 11 | September 18, 2023 11:13 PM |
What language is R8 using? Get Vibrio and die, bitch!
by Anonymous | reply 12 | September 18, 2023 11:15 PM |
My boyfriend told me to NEVER eat this fish. And I never have. Doing jumping jacks right now…
by Anonymous | reply 13 | September 18, 2023 11:19 PM |
[quote]My grandma told me to cook all meat to shoe leather. She was right. Undercooked meat of any kind is extremely dangerous.
Darling, rare meat is good for you. The doctor said so. R5, the meat loses all its vitamins when it's overcooked.
by Anonymous | reply 14 | September 18, 2023 11:28 PM |
I guess she's gonna need someone to draw on her eyebrows.
by Anonymous | reply 15 | September 18, 2023 11:56 PM |
My sweet Angel :(
by Anonymous | reply 16 | September 18, 2023 11:58 PM |
Same thing happened to me after I ate Rosie O'Donnell's pussy.
by Anonymous | reply 17 | September 19, 2023 12:31 AM |
How horrible. I would rather be dead.
by Anonymous | reply 18 | September 19, 2023 1:16 AM |
That photo is giving trashy Trump supporter vibes.
by Anonymous | reply 19 | September 19, 2023 1:21 AM |
Heartbreaking, horrific, tragedy. I wonder if they left part of the limbs (like at elbow or knees) that would allow her some function and maybe prosthetics.
by Anonymous | reply 20 | September 19, 2023 1:31 AM |
She could learn to play the piano with her nose, like that chicken who pecked at the keys.
by Anonymous | reply 21 | September 19, 2023 1:34 AM |
Tilapia is a bottom feeder and also most of it is farm-raised and has a lot of toxins. Avoid it at all costs.
by Anonymous | reply 22 | September 19, 2023 1:37 AM |
When I became a vegetarian in my early 30s, fish was the first thing I gave up. I loved it when I was a kid, but it really just started grossing me out to eat it. The final straw was a REALLY nasty piece of catfish. Never again. Chicken, especially with bones, similarly grossed me out.
I sometimes miss a pork filet or maybe a good steak—not enough to eat either again—but I don’t miss fish or chicken at all.
Tilapia does seem to be on a lot of menus these days. I didn’t know it was basically a “trash fish”.
by Anonymous | reply 23 | September 19, 2023 2:03 AM |
at least she still has her lips!
by Anonymous | reply 24 | September 19, 2023 2:59 AM |
To suck some good dick
by Anonymous | reply 25 | September 19, 2023 3:01 AM |
I bet she never eats Tilapia again.
by Anonymous | reply 26 | September 19, 2023 3:14 AM |
[quote] I bet she never eats Tilapia again.
She can't.
Unless someone feeds it to her.
by Anonymous | reply 27 | September 19, 2023 3:17 AM |
Tilapia are crawling with bacteria because they are literally fed shit.
[quote]Research from the Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future revealed the gory details of disease-ridden fish farms in Asia, where pig and chicken feces serve as a cheaper alternative to standard fish food ... only 2 percent of imported seafood to the United States is actually tested for contamination.
by Anonymous | reply 28 | September 19, 2023 3:23 AM |
Only eat fresh caught from local fishers is what I've heard. Anything from Asia is raised in ditches of shit including shrimp and crawfish.
by Anonymous | reply 29 | September 19, 2023 3:39 AM |
I've stopped eating chicken for the most part as well and I'm not sure why. But broiling thighs was a major part of my diet but it started to disgust me.
by Anonymous | reply 30 | September 19, 2023 3:42 AM |
Tilapia grossed me out quite a while ago. If I were that woman I would have rather them let me die on a morphine drip.
by Anonymous | reply 31 | September 19, 2023 3:44 AM |
To lose one limb is forgivable but to lose all four seems like negligence
by Anonymous | reply 32 | September 19, 2023 3:45 AM |
I remember when I used to get meal services delivered. Very expensive, but I was trying to lose weight and do better nutritionally. They would serve me tilapia and I sent them an email which said- for what I'm paying you, you can do better than that. It's disgusting and it tastes terrible.
by Anonymous | reply 33 | September 19, 2023 3:58 AM |
Back in the late 70s / early 80s when you still needed to sign up for Selective Service (aka The Draft) my older brother would tell my mother if he got drafted and sent to a war zone and lost his arms and legs, she could keep him in the kitchen cupboard. The visual has always stayed with me.
by Anonymous | reply 34 | September 19, 2023 4:13 AM |
Apparently this same bacteria killed three people up northeast this year. Just another gift courtesy of our warming ocean waters.
I wonder if she was immunocompromised?
by Anonymous | reply 35 | September 19, 2023 4:28 AM |
Seriously? If that happens to me, just kill me. Don't amputate all my limbs and then leave me to suffer for the rest of my life. Just kill me. Or just manage my pain until I die from it. I don't want to live like that.
by Anonymous | reply 36 | September 19, 2023 4:37 AM |
How does she wash her dirty cooter?
by Anonymous | reply 37 | September 19, 2023 6:16 AM |
^Britney
by Anonymous | reply 38 | September 19, 2023 6:44 AM |
[quote]Apparently this same bacteria killed three people up northeast this year. Just another gift courtesy of our warming ocean waters.
Let's see: Would I prefer to die from it or have my arms and legs amputated? Pretty easy choice, as far as I'm concerned.
by Anonymous | reply 39 | September 19, 2023 8:18 AM |
Has anyone mentioned tilapia is a bottom feeder? I'm pretty sure I'm the only person in the world who knows that.
by Anonymous | reply 40 | September 19, 2023 8:31 AM |
I used to eat Basa until I realized that it's a bottom feeder native to Vietnam, and raised in really dirty rivers, like the Mekong. I pretty much limit my fish meals to Salmon these days.....
by Anonymous | reply 41 | September 19, 2023 8:53 AM |
Looks like she still has her fivehead, thank the Lord.
by Anonymous | reply 42 | September 19, 2023 5:55 PM |
She lost her eyebrows as well
by Anonymous | reply 43 | September 19, 2023 6:25 PM |
BUT WAS THE FISH OK?
by Anonymous | reply 44 | September 19, 2023 6:26 PM |
This is why you should never eat any frozen fish from Trader Joe’s. It’s farmed in Thailand downriver from the lithium battery factories.
by Anonymous | reply 45 | September 19, 2023 6:28 PM |
Throw her in the pool and call her Bobbie.
by Anonymous | reply 46 | September 19, 2023 6:40 PM |
Why are they trying to make tilapia happen? It’s the culinary equivalent of an industry plant.
by Anonymous | reply 47 | September 19, 2023 6:58 PM |
I was at the sushi bar at Whole foods the other night; I opted for avocado and rice; I don't need to risk uncooked fish; I saw a guy walking by me last night and he had those bend metal things below his needs for calves and feet; he didn't have calves and feet
I'm bitching about money and no b.f.
Lord thanks for the perspective.
by Anonymous | reply 48 | September 19, 2023 7:01 PM |
[quote]She lost her eyebrows as well
The poison also made her lips swell up.
by Anonymous | reply 49 | September 19, 2023 7:06 PM |
Look at it this way - she can get a job as home plate.
by Anonymous | reply 50 | September 19, 2023 8:44 PM |
R50 stop it! 🤭
by Anonymous | reply 51 | September 19, 2023 11:03 PM |
Not sure anyone else here realizes this, but Tilapia is a bottom-feeding fish.
by Anonymous | reply 52 | September 19, 2023 11:26 PM |
Omg! I live in San Jose! This coulda been me!
by Anonymous | reply 53 | September 19, 2023 11:28 PM |
Lay her at the front door and call her Matt
by Anonymous | reply 54 | September 19, 2023 11:49 PM |
[quote] The poison also made her lips swell up
Think of the money she'll save on lip fillers!
by Anonymous | reply 55 | September 20, 2023 12:18 AM |
I wonder if Greg has ever made tilapia with prunes.
by Anonymous | reply 56 | September 20, 2023 12:24 AM |
I wish Gerg got vibrio, then we’d finally be spared. :(
by Anonymous | reply 57 | September 20, 2023 12:31 AM |
Thanks, OP, I wasn't planning to sleep tonight anyway
by Anonymous | reply 58 | September 20, 2023 12:33 AM |
Isn't lobster also a bottom feeder?
by Anonymous | reply 59 | September 20, 2023 12:38 AM |
I do fear that sushi and sashimi shall become banned within my lifetime.
by Anonymous | reply 60 | September 20, 2023 12:49 AM |
I volunteered in a school in Thailand and they fed the children tilapia for lunch every day. The entire fish lying on a plate. Some of the kids liked eating the eyeballs. It looked pretty well cooked though. The kids in the village swam in the filthy agricultural canals so I worried about that more than eating tiliapia, which I didn't even know at the time was a bottom feeding fish. Has that been mentioned yet?
by Anonymous | reply 61 | September 20, 2023 12:53 AM |
I still love sushi and sashimi though I know it might do something terrible to me some day. Isn't the Pacific now filled with all that radioactive waste from Japan?
by Anonymous | reply 62 | September 20, 2023 12:54 AM |
Tilapia is a bottom feeder is the Dyatlov pass of 2023
by Anonymous | reply 63 | September 20, 2023 1:37 AM |
I have to confess that I’m a bottom feeder and it hasn’t harmed me yet.
by Anonymous | reply 64 | September 20, 2023 8:30 AM |
[quote] I wonder if Greg has ever made tilapia with prunes.
No, of course not.
It’s a bottom feeder.
The very idea.
by Anonymous | reply 65 | September 20, 2023 11:36 AM |
Tilapia (catfish, lobster, etc.): It's not the where it eats; it's the what. Farmed = feces.
Raw oysters, sushi, etc.: Are you nuts?
Mussels and snails: What's the source?
Bacteria that eat your brain. Bacteria that destroy your flesh. Bacteria that poisons.
Warm water. Brackish water. Polluted water.
Ya pays yer money,....
by Anonymous | reply 66 | September 20, 2023 2:17 PM |
And climate change is only making things worse…as the oceans become warmer, more pathogens will be released into the waters. Pathogens that could not survive in cooler temperatures are now becoming more prevalent. We have to adapt somehow.
by Anonymous | reply 67 | September 20, 2023 2:21 PM |
Easy-peasy, r67: Don't eat water creatures.
by Anonymous | reply 68 | September 20, 2023 2:25 PM |
[quote] This is why you should never eat any frozen fish from Trader Joe’s. It’s farmed in Thailand downriver from the lithium battery factories
Not being snarky, but how do you know this? I get their cod and now I’m nervous.
by Anonymous | reply 69 | September 20, 2023 2:42 PM |
The bacteria should've eaten those lips instead.
by Anonymous | reply 70 | September 20, 2023 3:25 PM |
It's everywhere;
When I lived in Jacksonville - which is it's own version of hell - they tried to quash all the cases stemming from people swimming in the St. Johns River (don't want to rattle the tourists), but the word got out. Now it's front page news.
[quote]Earlier in the month, Professor Anthony Oullette of Jacksonville University led a class of three students on a mission to survey bacteria levels of the St. Johns River. The group navigated the river on a pontoon boat, collecting samples, and what they found may seem shocking. The study revealed that 4 out of 6 sites tested positive for multiple variants of Vibrios. Two such sampling locations tested positive for Vibrio vulnificus, a type of flesh-eating bacteria, and a third tested positive for both Vibrio vulnificus and Vibrio parahaemolyticus, which can cause serious gastrointestinal illness. A fourth site tested positive for Vibrio, but not any of the three pathogenic kinds.
[quote]A health alert has been issued by The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in response to reports of a fatal bacterial infection that thrives in warm coastal waters. The Vibrio vulnificus bacteria can be found in raw or undercooked seafood, saltwater and brackish water. The most common way to become infected is when an open wound comes into contact with vibrio bacteria in water. At least a dozen people have died from the infection across the country this year.
[quote]About 80,000 people get vibrio infections each year. Of those infected, about 100 people will die from the infection annually in the U.S., according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
[quote]As ocean waters warm because of climate change, the Vibrio vulnificus is migrating north, studies have found
by Anonymous | reply 71 | September 20, 2023 3:44 PM |
R11, I’ve spent a lot of time in India over the years.
Your friend has just been lucky so far. Lots of Indian vegetarians get food poisoning. Obviously, they don’t get vibrio (yet) but you can get salmonella from flour anywhere, and vegetables always need to be cooked thoroughly to kill the pathogens they harbor.
Salad (as we know it), carrot sticks, etc., aren’t really a thing over there.
by Anonymous | reply 72 | September 20, 2023 3:52 PM |
DL has broken my brain so much that I thought this was a Erna/stinkfish thread.
by Anonymous | reply 73 | September 20, 2023 4:42 PM |
He was later diagnosed with eosinophilic meningo-encephalitis contracted from rat lungworm which is usually found in rodents [but] snails and slugs can also be infected when they eat rat faeces.
by Anonymous | reply 74 | September 21, 2023 12:05 AM |
I mean he definitely deserves it
by Anonymous | reply 75 | September 21, 2023 12:07 AM |
R75 That's terrible. He probably assumed it was similar to eating a garden snail.
by Anonymous | reply 76 | September 21, 2023 12:16 AM |
R76, if a garden snail had eaten faeces form a rat infected with lungworm it could have been as bad.
French restaurants, etc must use farmed snails.
by Anonymous | reply 77 | September 21, 2023 12:36 AM |
Sorry, but she's more chola than mom.
by Anonymous | reply 78 | September 21, 2023 12:46 AM |
[quote] Mystery surrounding illness deepens for San Jose woman who lost limbs
(KRON) — A San Jose mother who underwent a quadruple amputation earlier this month after eating tilapia fish remains in a hospital, and her illness is now a mystery.
Laura Barajas, 40, was not sickened by Vibrio, public health officials said Wednesday.
Barajas’ close friend, Anna Messina, previously told KRON4 that an infection that led to the amputations was likely caused by Vibrio.
Barajas purchased tilapia in July from a local market in San Jose and cooked it for dinner. “Little did she know that this simple act would change her life forever. The following day, Laura realized something was terribly wrong, and she was diagnosed with Vibrio,” Messina wrote. “On September 13, 2023 all four of Laura’s limbs had to be removed in order to save her life.”
Santa Clara County Public Health Department officials learned of the case through news media reports, and they found the hospitalized patient on Tuesday.
SCCPHD wrote, “Preliminary information has now been received regarding this individual, confirming that no laboratory tests are positive for Vibrio. Several different diseases including but not limited to Vibrio can cause tragic clinical outcomes like this one. Public Health is actively investigating to confirm if a cause of this illness can be identified.”
The county’s public health department monitors local medical providers and laboratories for any unusual infections and diseases. “Public Health investigates reports of suspected Vibrio each year to prevent potential risks to the public,” SCCPHD wrote.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a Vibrio bacterial infection can be caused by eating raw or undercooked fish, or by exposing an open wound to coastal waters.
Messina says she and Barajas’ family are still waiting to learn more about what happened.
A GoFundMe page for Barajas has raised more than $111,000 in donations. On Monday, Messina wrote that “Laura is healing well and looking forward to moving out of the ICU into another room at the hospital.”
by Anonymous | reply 79 | September 22, 2023 7:16 PM |
Yuck. How awful. Glad I don’t like fish.
by Anonymous | reply 80 | September 22, 2023 7:43 PM |
R79 Figures. Anna “Messina”—née Rosenberg—is one of the legendary fabulists of San Jose.
by Anonymous | reply 81 | September 23, 2023 7:02 AM |
R80 We know, Rose.
by Anonymous | reply 82 | September 23, 2023 7:02 AM |
If it wasn't vibrio, it might not have been the fish, but something else she ate. Even so, I'm not a fan of tilapia. However, when you order fish in an Asian restaurant, that is the most common kind
by Anonymous | reply 83 | September 23, 2023 8:40 AM |
[quote]Santa Clara County Public Health Department officials learned of the case through news media reports, and they found the hospitalized patient on Tuesday.
Shouldn't the hospital have contacted the Department of Health with this information?
by Anonymous | reply 84 | September 23, 2023 10:09 AM |
Which bottom-feeder is worse--tilapia or catfish?
by Anonymous | reply 85 | September 23, 2023 10:26 AM |
You’re telling me a bottom fed this fish?
by Anonymous | reply 86 | September 23, 2023 10:30 AM |
Fish ate Fish story.
by Anonymous | reply 87 | September 23, 2023 11:02 AM |
She still has tits and holes.
by Anonymous | reply 88 | September 23, 2023 11:32 AM |
Im also wondering why it took over 2 months for the health department to be aware of this if the hospital knew that serious illness was caused by something she ate. I mean having the runs is one thing but flesh eating bacteria is another
by Anonymous | reply 89 | September 23, 2023 11:50 AM |
Did she also gain an extra forehead?
by Anonymous | reply 90 | September 23, 2023 12:21 PM |
Bummer.
by Anonymous | reply 91 | September 23, 2023 1:28 PM |
But, how will she hug her son after football games?
by Anonymous | reply 92 | September 23, 2023 1:58 PM |
She bought the fish at a market and cooked it herself. Some people at the beginning of the thread were under the impression that she ate the fish at a restaurant.
by Anonymous | reply 93 | September 23, 2023 2:10 PM |
Clearly there's a war on against Asian grocers!
by Anonymous | reply 94 | September 23, 2023 2:51 PM |
If this bacteria would just go vegan the world would be such a better place! So gross!
by Anonymous | reply 95 | September 23, 2023 2:57 PM |
I have a lot of sensitivities and allergies to fish, so I'm very careful of the type of fish and the source. All tilapia are basically farm raised, which I avoid at all cost.
by Anonymous | reply 96 | September 23, 2023 2:57 PM |
I always buy my fish frozen…is that safer? My foodie friends wax poetic about freshly caught seafood…starting to wonder…
by Anonymous | reply 97 | September 25, 2023 7:17 PM |
I had a patient once who’d had all 4 limbs amputated. She’d developed DIC in childbirth. She was placed on levophed which is a strong vasoconstrictor. The point was to constrict blood vessels so her brain and central nervous system could continue functioning and it pretty much shut down the smaller blood vessels supplying the limbs. No blood supply = gangrene = amputation.
They were constantly trying to find new blood vessels to tap into for a Hickman-type catheter to supply her with medication needed to keep her alive. It was very sad.
I don’t know what became of her after that
by Anonymous | reply 98 | September 25, 2023 9:29 PM |
[quote]The CDC issued an emergency alert at the end of August urging healthcare providers to consider Vibrio as a potential cause of infections, as warming sea waters are encouraging growth of the bacteria.
Brutal and now I'm afraid of eating sushi.
by Anonymous | reply 99 | September 25, 2023 9:54 PM |
I think of lakes and ponds where people used to enjoy going swimming and which were cold and refreshing. And now you hear of bacteria getting into people's noses and going up into the brain and killing them.
by Anonymous | reply 100 | September 25, 2023 11:21 PM |
Ok, R98
by Anonymous | reply 101 | September 25, 2023 11:45 PM |
Bacteria where the water goes up into the man?
by Anonymous | reply 102 | September 26, 2023 12:18 AM |
R100, those stories have been around foe decades, unfortunately.
by Anonymous | reply 103 | September 26, 2023 4:36 AM |
This is so tragic. I hope she grows her limbs back soon
by Anonymous | reply 104 | September 26, 2023 4:40 AM |
Tilapia is a bottom feeder fish. I avoid it. So should the rest of us.
by Anonymous | reply 105 | September 26, 2023 5:50 AM |
Aren't oysters as well which are making people sick?
by Anonymous | reply 106 | September 26, 2023 11:29 AM |
[quote]I always buy my fish frozen…is that safer?
YES! That's actually what most restaurants do to kill off any nasty parasites, worms and whatnot. Even if they say today's fish was fresh caught. What they don't say is, Yeah, caught a few days ago fresh and flash frozen. So your snotty friends who think they are getting fish caught that day, really risking their lives if it has not been frozen overnight.
by Anonymous | reply 107 | September 26, 2023 11:43 AM |
[quote]Tilapia is a bottom feeder fish. I avoid it. So should the rest of us.
I hate Tilapia, but I love shrimp and lobster which are also bottom feeders. Delicious. But then they come from the Ocean so not as dirty as a small lake.
by Anonymous | reply 108 | September 26, 2023 11:46 AM |
**BEARKING** The torso was removed also. Please put her on your Prayer List.
by Anonymous | reply 109 | September 26, 2023 11:55 AM |
Jan in the pan!
by Anonymous | reply 110 | September 26, 2023 11:57 AM |
OP- It’s not proper English to say -
Mom Loses Arms And Legs
next time say
MOTHER loses arms and legs
by Anonymous | reply 111 | September 26, 2023 12:51 PM |
Vibrio vulnificus must be reported to the Health Department within a day of diagnosis. There was no trace of it in the victim which is why it wasn't reported. It appears the victim's friend who started the GoFundMe page was confused.
There is a woman in the hospital matching the description in the story and the Heath Department says there are several other disorders and diseases which could result in limb amputation. A majority of limb amputations are from diabetes complications and peripheral artery disease (PAD). Another possibility is sepsis.
by Anonymous | reply 112 | September 26, 2023 2:55 PM |
And DIC
by Anonymous | reply 113 | September 26, 2023 3:18 PM |
Is she getting her beef curtain licked
by Anonymous | reply 114 | September 29, 2023 6:59 AM |