Last month, Basil Kennedy scraped his leg on a trailer parked outside of his home in Bay St. Louis. He rinsed the cut with hydrogen peroxide and pressed on a Band-Aid.

Three days later, the 77-year-old was in the emergency room, vomiting with a fever. His symptoms escalated — his blood pressure dropped and lab results showed high levels of lactic acid, a warning sign of impending septic shock.

Doctors later found the culprit was Vibrio vulnificus : a rare and potentially deadly bacteria found in brackish, warm coastal waters. The infection often occurs when open wounds come in contact with contaminated water or shellfish. So far this year, 32 people across the Gulf Coast have contracted it, and eight have died, according to the Louisiana Department of Health.

But Kennedy's case was di

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