Up to 200 people in the United States every year report Vibrio vulnificus infections to the CDC. A fifth of the cases are fatal, sometimes within one or two days of the onset of illness, according to the agency.

“V. vulnificus wound infections have a short incubation period and are characterized by necrotizing skin and soft tissue infection,” it said. The CDC says many people infected with Vibrio vulnificus “require intensive care or limb amputations,” and that some infections lead to what is called necrotizing fasciitis, a severe infection in which the flesh around an open wound dies.

Friday’s warning urges health-care providers to consider the bacteria as a possible cause of infected wounds, particularly if patients were exposed to warm coastal waters during hotter months. “Extreme weather events, such as coastal floods, hurricanes, and storm surges, can force coastal waters into inland areas, putting people that are exposed to these waters” at increased risk of Vibrio wound infections, the CDC said.