Sept. 7 (Bloomberg) -- Four people died of a water-borne illness they contracted from dirty water following Hurricane Katrina, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said, citing reports from local health officials.

CDC Director Julie Gerberding told reporters on a conference call today that the water-borne bacteria Vibrio vulnificus, a relative of the pathogen that causes cholera, was suspected in one death in Texas and three in Mississippi. A fifth person is ill, and that patient's location wasn't immediately known, CDC spokeswoman Bernadette Burden said.

``These are reports we are receiving from local health officials,'' Burden said today from CDC headquarters in Atlanta. ``We're attempting to follow up with health officials on the ground. The details at this point are sketchy.''

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is pumping the water out of New Orleans following flooding caused last week by Hurricane Katrina, which government officials say ranks among the biggest U.S. natural disasters. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said today that the contaminated floodwater in New Orleans contains levels of the bacterium E. Coli and lead that are at least 10 times higher than is considered safe.

Health officials are still working to verify that infection was the cause of the deaths, said Von Roebuck, a CDC spokesman. Disease from contaminated floodwaters threatens to add to the death toll of the hurricane, which health officials have already estimated in the thousands. CDC is sending about 100 health workers into New Orleans to begin an assessment of health facilities and look for signs of contagious disease.

Patients may become infected with Vibrio vulnificus by eating contaminated seafood or through an open wound exposed to sea water, according to the CDC Web site. The recommended treatment for such an infection, which causes vomiting and diarrhea, is a combination of the generic antibiotics ceftazidime and doxycycline.

The CDC receives about 400 reports of disease caused by Vibrio bacteria each year, Roebuck said. About 90 of those are the vulnificus strain, he said.

The infection is far less dangerous than its better known relative, Vibrio cholera, Louisiana state epidemiologist Raoult Ratard said in a press conference in Baton Rouge. Vulnificus lives only in salty water, while cholera can infect people who drink contaminated fresh water, he said.

Ratard, who has visited a number of shelters in Louisiana, said he has seen no signs of diarrheal disease outbreaks.

Crowded shelters are ``potentially dangerous, but we're going to watch carefully,'' he said in an interview. ``We don't know what tomorrow may bring.''

To contact the reporter on this story: Kristen Hallam in Washington at khallam@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: September 7, 2005 19:32 EDT