CDC says 5 dead from dirty water after Katrina

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – As many as five people have died
from bacterial infections caused by the dirty water that
Hurricane Katrina drove ashore last week, the U.S. Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention said on Wednesday.

The patients appear to have been infected with Vibrio
vulnificus bacteria, a water-borne pathogen that is related to
the bacteria that cause cholera and which is common in water
off the Gulf of Mexico.

“There was one in Texas and I think three or four in
Mississippi that were confirmed by state and local health
officials and reported to CDC,” CDC spokesman Tom Skinner said.