A tar ball found on the beach at Fort Zachary Taylor State Park in Key West, Florida is seen on May 18, 2010. Samples of the tar balls were collected and will be shipped to a laboratory for analysis to determine if the origin of the tar balls found in Florida are from the British Petroleum (BP) Deepwater Horizon oil spill. UPI/Kevin Coryell/U.S. Coast Guard. | License Photo

AUBURN, Ala., April 4 (UPI) -- Tar balls from the 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster washing up in the Gulf of Mexico after storms are full of potentially deadly bacteria, U.S. scientists say.

Auburn University microbiologist Cova Arias and colleagues discovered tar balls found months after the spill contained high levels of bacteria, including 10 times the level of Vibrio vulnificus as found in surrounding sand.


V. vulnificus is a leading cause of seafood-borne disease fatalities nationwide, and it has a fatality rate of 20 percent to 30 percent when it infects skin wounds.

Arias urges people to steer clear of tar balls on beaches, especially if they have compromised immune systems or open wounds.

"We don't know what the real risk is at this point," she told LiveScience.com, but recommended that to be safe beachgoers should avoid handling the tar balls.

"If you happen to touch a tar ball, just wash your hands and try to avoid contact," Arias said.

Tar balls are a persistent consequence of the 4.9 million barrels of oil spilled from a pipe in the seafloor after the Deepwater Horizon rig exploded and sank in late April 2010.