A so-called flesh-eating bacterium that thrives in warm seawater has killed at least seven people this year along the Gulf Coast, officials said.

Two people in Florida and five in Louisiana have died from vibrio vulnificus, which lurks in warm coastal waters and can enter the body through open wounds or from eating raw shellfish. Nationwide, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said about 1 in 5 people with the bacteria do die.

Flesh-eating bacteria survivor shares her story

Summerlin Skipworth was spending her Labor Day weekend last year at Alabama’s Orange Beach when she hurt her foot against rocks along the shore.

“It felt like it was broken,” she said.

Within a few days, Skipworth said, the pain spiked, sending her to the emergency room.

“It felt like somebody poured gasoline on my foot and lit it on fire,” she said.

Skipworth tested positive for vibrio vulnificus.

“An infection never crossed my mind,” she said. “I just knew I had pain in my foot.”

Skipworth had to have emergency surgery but was released quickly after the procedure. Doctors credit her recovery to early detection.

“I’m just thankful to be here,” she said.

Researchers as far north as New York have detected the bacteria in waters along the coast. In Maryland, where over two dozen cases have been confirmed so far this year, health officials warned people to be cautious about swimming in Chesapeake Bay.

“With every year now, because of climate change, we’re seeing it higher and higher in more northerly latitudes,” said Dr. Peter Hotez, dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine.

Who is at risk of being infected with flesh-eating bacteria?

Hotez said people with underlying health conditions should take extra precautions to protect themselves. According to the CDC, those conditions include liver disease, cancer, diabetes, HIV or thalassemia, a blood disorder. Some treatments that can also increase the risk of infection include immune-suppressing therapy and medicine to decrease stomach acid levels.

“If you have those risk factors, and if you have an open wound or abrasion in your skin, you do not want to go swimming in brackish waters along the Gulf Coast and the Atlantic Seaboard,” Hotez said.

Brackish water, a mixture of salt water and fresh water, can be found where rivers combine with the ocean.

Symptoms of a wound infection include fever and discoloration or discharge of fluids around the wound as well as pain, redness or swelling, according to the CDC. Symptoms can also include chills, nausea, stomach cramps and vomiting.

Dr. Cassandra Black, an infectious disease doctor, told CBS News Baltimore that open wounds exposed to water with the bacteria should be cleaned immediately.