Cases of "flesh-eating" bacteria infections are climbing across the Southeast. North Carolina has tallied 59 Vibrio infections and one death this year, while Florida and Louisiana have recorded eight fatalities.

Deaths from “flesh-eating” bacteria are on the rise across the southeastern coasts of the U.S. At least five people in Florida, four in Louisiana and one in the Outer Banks have died this year from infections that can cause necrotizing wounds.

OUTER BANKS, N.C. (WITN) - A man has spent more than a week in an Outer Banks hospital after a small cut on his leg turned into a Vibrio vulnificus infection. Doctors say the flesh-eating bacterium can destroy tissue and become deadly in fewer than 48 hours.