Flesh-eating bacteria lurk in post-hurricane floodwaters. Here’s how to stay safe.

Cases of Vibrio vulnificus infection tend to rise after hurricanes mix fresh rainwater with salty seawater.

In the wake of Hurricane Idalia, health officials warned of a invisible threat in the lingering floodwaters: Vibrio vulnificus bacteria.

The warning comes as serious infections from the bacteria are on the rise, tied to warming coastal waters. On Sept. 1, the Centers for Disease Control issued an alert to health care providers to consider Vibrio as a possible cause of infected wounds, noting several severe and fatal cases in Connecticut, New York and North Carolina.

The rare and potentially deadly type of flesh-eating bacterium "shouldn't be taken lightly," Florida Health Department press secretary Jae Williams said. "It needs to be treated with proper respect — the same way we respect alligators and rattlesnakes."

Florida health officials started alerting residents of the potential for such bacterial infections "as soon as the state of emergency was declared," Williams said, referring to Hurricane Idalia.

Coastal areas of the state, as well as Georgia and the Carolinas, where Idalia's surges left behind standing water, were most at risk for Vibrio bacteria.