How to protect yourself against flesh-eating bacteria — as deadly infection sweeps 5 states

Let this sink in — a dangerous, salt-obsessed bacterium is wreaking havoc along the Gulf Coast.

Several dozen cases of Vibrio vulnificus and nine deaths have been reported so far this year across Florida, Louisiana, North Carolina, Alabama and Mississippi.

The rod-shaped bacterium lurks in warm, brackish waters — it can enter your body when you consume raw or undercooked shellfish, particularly oysters , or expose an open wound to seawater. 5

“Vibrio has the potential to cause severe infections, including invasive soft tissue infections (sometimes called ‘necrotizing fasciitis’ or ‘flesh-eating bacteria’) and bloodstream infections,” Dr. Andrew Handel , a pediatric infectious diseases specialist at Stony Brook Children’s Hospital, told The Post.

Here’s what you need to know