A germ that eats human flesh is on the move. Last year, it killed eight people along the Gulf Coast. This year, doctors say it is showing up farther north than ever. South Texas beachgoers need to pay attention.

The germ is called Vibrio vulnificus. Most people just call it "flesh-eating bacteria." It lives in warm salt water. It also lives in bay water, where salt water and river water mix. The germ can hide inside raw oysters too.

Health officials tracked 32 cases and 8 deaths along the Gulf Coast last year. Louisiana had the most. 17 people got sick there. 4 died. Florida had 13 sick and 4 dead. Mississippi and Alabama each had one case. That Gulf-wide count did not list any Texas cases. But the germ lives here too. Texas has its own history with it.

This year is already showing new warning signs. Florida had logged eight cases by mid June. Mississippi health officials sent out a public warning in June. Scientists found the bacteria in coastal water off Long Island, New York, this spring, a place that almost never saw it before. That is proof the germ keeps pushing north.

This matters for South Texas. Scientists say the bug's range has crept north about 30 miles a year since 1998. Warm water lets it grow in more places for more months.

The germ gets into your body two ways. It can slip through a cut or scrape when you swim in warm salt water. Or you can eat raw or undercooked shellfish, like raw oysters, that carry the bug.

Once inside a wound, the germ can eat away skin and muscle fast. Doctors call this necrotizing fasciitis. Just call it flesh-eating infection. It can kill within a day or two. The CDC says 1 in 5 people who catch it die. Many who live lose an arm or a leg.

Texas is no stranger to this bug. State health workers say Texas sees about 33 cases a year on average. That is based on data from 2015 to 2019. Nearly 9 out of 10 cases happen between May and October. That is when Gulf water is warmest. Galveston, Corpus Christi, and South Padre Island have all found the bug in their waters before. A study at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley found that Texas does very little regular testing for it. Cases keep showing up anyway.

Doctors say most healthy people who touch the germ never get sick. The real danger is for people with liver disease, cancer, diabetes, or a weak immune system. For them, a blood infection can kill about half the time.

El Tejano first warned South Texas swimmers about this bug on July 3. You can read that story here: https://www.eltejanorgv.com/doctors-warn-south-texas-swimmers-flesh-eating-bacteria-is-in-gulf-waters-and-texas-lakes/. Local doctors said then that it lives in Gulf water and in freshwater lakes across Texas. Last year's toll of 8 dead and 32 sick, plus new cases and warnings already piling up in 2026, show the risk is not going away.

Here is how to stay safe at the beach or the lake this summer. Stay out of salt water if you have a fresh cut, scrape, or new tattoo. If you get a cut while swimming, get out of the water. Clean the cut right away with soap and clean water. Skip raw oysters and raw shellfish if you have liver disease, cancer, diabetes, or a weak immune system. Wear gloves if you clean raw seafood at home. Watch any cut for two or three days after you swim. If it turns red, swells up, or hurts more, see a doctor fast. Do not wait.

Texas does not run daily germ tests at its Gulf beaches. You can check general water conditions through the Texas Beach Watch program before you head out. But the germ lives in the water on its own. No test can make it go away.

Health officials expect more cases through October. That is when Gulf water finally starts to cool off.