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San Jose Woman Loses Limbs Battling Bacterial Infection From Tilapia
KRON4 ^ | Sep 16, 2023 | Dan Thorn

Posted on 09/17/2023 12:46:42 PM PDT by nickcarraway

There’s a warning about a dangerous bacteria that might have infected a local woman who’s still recovering after nearly two months in the hospital. An online fundraising effort says she contracted the bacterial infection after eating fish and is now a quadruple amputee.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently issued a warning about a bacterial infection that people can get by eating raw or undercooked fish or by exposing an open wound to coastal waters. A friend tells us this San Jose woman likely got this specific infection after eating undercooked tilapia.

A San Jose mother’s life is changed forever. Laura Barajas, 40, has had her limbs amputated while battling a bacterial infection.

“It’s just been really heavy on all of us. It’s terrible. This could’ve happened to any of us,” said Barajas’ friend Anna Messina.

Messina says back in late July Barajas had bought tilapia from a local market for dinner. She cooked it and ate it alone. Within days, she got very ill and was then hospitalized.

“She almost lost her life. She was on a respirator,” Messina said. “They put her into a medically induced coma. Her fingers were black, her feet were black her bottom lip was black. She had complete sepsis and her kidneys were failing.”

Now, a month and a half later, Barajas is without her arms and legs.

Messina believes the infection was caused by Vibrio vulnificus — a bacterial infection the CDC has been warning about.

“The ways you can get infected with this bacteria are one-you can eat something that’s contaminated with it the other way is by having a cut or tattoo exposed to water in which this bug lives,” said UCSF Infectious Disease Expert Dr. Natasha Spottiswoode.

Spottiswoode says the bacteria is especially concerning for people who are immunocompromised.

The CDC says about 150-200 cases of the infections are reported each year and about one in five people with the infection die — sometimes within one to two days of becoming ill.

Salesforce CEO: Why can’t SF be ‘clean and safe’ every day? “People should take sensible precautions like if you have a cut avoid getting immersed in water until it’s well healed,” Spottiswoode said. “If you are someone immunocompromised keeping an eye on these things and avoiding those high-risk activities and foods.”

Messina says she and Barajas’ family are still waiting to learn more about what happened. She hopes people realize how precious life can be.

“Be thankful for what we have right now because it can be taken away so quickly so easily,” Messina said.

Messina has set up a GoFundMe to help with her friend’s medical expenses. So far, it has raised more than $20,000.


TOPICS: Food; Health/Medicine; Local News
KEYWORDS: bacteria; fish; tilapia
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To: nickcarraway

I once took a single bite. That was all it took for me to realize I didn’t like it. Haven’t tried it since.


21 posted on 09/17/2023 1:32:56 PM PDT by ComputerGuy (Heavily-medicated for your protection)
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To: Ann Archy

I will avoid any farm grown seafood. But it is getting harder to find naturally caught fish.


22 posted on 09/17/2023 1:33:20 PM PDT by entropy12 (Career politicians like Desantis build wealth. Trump sacrificed his wealth to serve people. GO TRUMP)
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To: Fai Mao; Ann Archy
> Yes it is. https://www.quora.com/Can-you-make-sushi-with-tilapia

But note that your link's page says IT MUST BE COOKED. Not raw like most sushi.

23 posted on 09/17/2023 1:44:40 PM PDT by dayglored (Strange Women Lying In Ponds Distributing Swords! Arthur Pendragon in 2024)
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To: nickcarraway

Tilapia is an African trash fish, one level above carp. Amazing that people eat it.


24 posted on 09/17/2023 1:45:38 PM PDT by DesertRhino (Dogs are called man's best friend. Moslems hate dogs. Add it up..)
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To: nickcarraway

I live on seafood. There are only two fish that I find repulsive: tilapia and sanddabs.


25 posted on 09/17/2023 1:49:57 PM PDT by thegagline (Sic semper tyrannis! Goldwater in 2024)
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To: nickcarraway

Don’t eat it unless you want to be called “Bob”.


26 posted on 09/17/2023 1:51:30 PM PDT by mikey_hates_everything
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To: DesertRhino

Barely above a carp. My spouse bought it once thinking she gotten great deal on some fish. I explained Tilapia to her. She hasn’t bought it since.


27 posted on 09/17/2023 1:54:30 PM PDT by Obadiah
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To: nickcarraway

I don’t know if she was vaxed, but it appears she may have been immunocompromised, a condition associated with the mNRA vax - a Megyn Kelly immunocompromised condition. Of course, if her maiming was causally related to the vax, no one will ever know and it will never be reported as such.

“Spottiswoode says the bacteria is especially concerning for people who are immunocompromised.”


28 posted on 09/17/2023 1:56:30 PM PDT by iontheball
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To: nickcarraway
We live next to one of the open canal here in Scottsdale. Talapia are introduced the canals as they are a bottom feeder and are supposed to eat the algae on the bottom. they can be very big 2-3 ft. Rarely does a week go by that I do not see people fishing for these things.

No Thanks

29 posted on 09/17/2023 1:57:51 PM PDT by Michael.SF. ( Biden-Fetterman in ‘24: It's a no brainer)
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To: rhinohunter

Ha ha.


30 posted on 09/17/2023 2:00:23 PM PDT by crusty old prospector
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To: Getready

Wuhan monkey shit?


31 posted on 09/17/2023 2:01:13 PM PDT by shotgun
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To: wjcsux

C’mon, man. They are fed floating pellets from ground-up fish. They are not the terd rustlers of bygone days. They are clean, clean.


32 posted on 09/17/2023 2:02:06 PM PDT by crusty old prospector
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To: nickcarraway

Judas Priest, cook your food properly. Problem solved.


33 posted on 09/17/2023 2:02:36 PM PDT by facedown (uite)
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To: nickcarraway

It’s been two months and there’s no definitive answer?

When my father got food poisoning and nearly died from a convenience store’s prepared BBQ lunch, the hospital somehow lost the test sample from which they had made their diagnosis. The lawyer he hired mixed him up with some other client and never pursued the case. I started to wonder just how much sway the lawyer had with the hospital (the lawyer’s family are founders in this area).

This poor lady probably doesn’t have a case since she cooked it herself. Prayers for her and her family. A horrible outcome from a simple meal.


34 posted on 09/17/2023 2:02:47 PM PDT by skr (Righteousness exalteth a nation: but sin is a reproach to any people. - Proverbs 14:34)
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To: Getready

Tilapia is a bottom feeding, farm raised, garbage fish. Don’t eat it.

https://www.mcgill.ca/oss/article/nutrition-quackery/tilapia-and-poop-connection


35 posted on 09/17/2023 2:05:54 PM PDT by HYPOCRACY (This is the dystopian future we've been waiting for!)
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To: nickcarraway
I've tried to warn people for a long time about Talipia. What it is and where
it is harvested.
Same with Swai. Listen up y'all.

36 posted on 09/17/2023 2:12:03 PM PDT by Tommy Revolts
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To: Honest Nigerian

Well, sushi smells like SF.


37 posted on 09/17/2023 2:20:31 PM PDT by Cobra64 (Common sense isn’t common anymore)
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To: wjcsux

I eat no scavenger meat, only kosher. Scavengers can thrive in polluted situations. I’m picky about what I eat. I prefer cage free and free range eggs. Bison and lamb. I eat very little beef and no pork. Wild caught salmon, etc . .


38 posted on 09/17/2023 3:12:29 PM PDT by BipolarBob (Biden would give Jesse James the train schedule for his 10%.)
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To: Fai Mao

Commercially available sushi fish in the U.S. is frozen to kill any parasites. Beware, however, if you are traveling to another country, particularly Asia.


39 posted on 09/17/2023 3:31:41 PM PDT by Jeff Chandler (THE ISSUE IS NEVER THE ISSUE. THE REVOLUTION IS THE ISSUE.)
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To: DannyTN
tilapia . . . most of it is farmed in China in what amounts to cess pools.
40 posted on 09/17/2023 3:32:38 PM PDT by Jeff Chandler (THE ISSUE IS NEVER THE ISSUE. THE REVOLUTION IS THE ISSUE.)
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