By MIKE STOBBE

NEW YORK (AP) — States are warning beachgoers about a summertime surge in infections from a frightening, flesh-eating bacteria found in coastal waters.

Vibrio vulnificus are becoming an annual threat along the Gulf Coast and — increasingly — up the Eastern Seaboard.

People should listen to the warnings, said Bernie Stewart, a 65-year-old retired bounty hunter in Florida who counts himself lucky to have survived an infection.

This photo provided by Karrianne Stewart shows her husband, Bernie Stewart, in a coma at a hospital in Pensacola, Fla., shortly after the start of an August 2019 Vibrio infection. (Karrianne Stewart via AP)

In August 2019, Stewart’s right leg was infected while he was kayak fishing in Pensacola Bay. What at first appeared to be a sun blister led to three months in the hospital, where doctors performed 10 surgeries to remove decaying skin and prevent the bacteria from killing him.

“This ain’t nothing to play with,” Stewart said.

Vibrio bacteria thrive in seawater and in the mix of fresh and saltwater found in estuaries and lagoons. Most infections are reported from May to October, and most happen in states along the Gulf Coast.

The Gulf’s water is “the perfect convergence of the right amount of salt and the right amount of heat to let this organism proliferate,” said Dr. Fred Lopez, an infectious diseases specialist at the LSU Health Sciences Center in New Orleans.

At least a dozen kinds of Vibrio can cause human illnesses

The nastiest type is Vibrio vulnificus. It accounts for around 200 of the more than 1,000 Vibrio illnesses each year, according to CDC data.

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As many as 1 in 5 of those infections are fatal — a much higher rate than other types of Vibrio bacteria.

Some people become infected by eating eat raw or undercooked shellfish — particularly oysters. But a large percentage fall ill when the person is in ocean or brackish water and the bacteria enter the body through small breaks in the skin.

The antibiotics used to treat food poisoning cases don’t work as well when the germ enters through breaks in the skin, Lopez said.

“They may require multiple surgeries to remove dead or infected tissue, and sometimes require amputation,” he said.

Doctors say severe cases are seen more often in elderly patients, people with weakened immune systems, and those with liver disease, diabetes and certain chronic illnesses.

Cases are up in some places, but not all

Louisiana has seen an alarming jump in cases this summer, but other states are not. More cases are expected, as this is peak season for Vibrio vulnificus infections.

“It is really easy to sound unnecessary alarms because cases have increased, or feel too complacent because cases are low,” when data is incomplete, said Salvador Almagro-Moreno, a St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital who has studied the germ.

Infections have been reported as far north as New England — Massachusetts recently issued an alert after someone reportedly was infected on Cape Cod.

This electron microscope image provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows Vibrio vulnificus bacteria in 2005. (Janice Haney Carr/CDC via AP)

Scientists say climate change is helping the germs proliferate and spread northward. A 2023 study found that the northernmost case has been shifting by about 30 miles each year, and that cases overall have been rising.

As of late last week, 20 cases of Vibrio vulnificus had been reported among Louisiana residents this year. All were hospitalized and four died, the state’s health department said. That’s more than twice the average number of cases for this point in the season, and four times the death toll, state officials said.

Cases are not unusually higher in other Gulf States, however.

Florida, which tends to have more infections than other states, has reported 17 Vibrio vulnificus cases and five deaths this year, compared with 82 cases and 19 deaths at the same point last year.

State officials say they typically see more cases in years when Florida is hit by tropical storms, and hurricane season is only just beginning, Lopez noted.

How to prevent infections

Vibrio vulnificus can enter the body through unhealed cuts and scrapes, recent piercings and tattoos, and recent surgical incisions. If you have such a wound, try to stay out of saltwater or brackish water, and cover it with a waterproof bandage if there’s a chance of exposure.

If you do come in contact with coastal waters or raw seafood, immediately wash cuts and scrapes thoroughly with soap and clean running water, the CDC advises.

And see a doctor if you start to develop symptoms such as fever, chills, and hot red areas on the skin that start to turn dark and blister.

You can also become infected by eating seafood. Health officials say not to eat raw or undercooked oysters or other seafood, and do not let raw seafood, its drippings, or its juices contaminate other foods.

Oysters are a particular risk, and there is no way to tell if an oyster is contaminated just by looking at it.

Wash hands with soap and water after handing raw shellfish, and wear protective gloves if you have a weakened immune system and are at a higher risk of infection.

Health officials also offer cooking instructions for clams, mussels and other shellfish. They recommend throwing away any with open shells before cooking.

In Pensacola, Stewart said he’s advocated — unsuccessfully — for local officials to post signs about the dangers of going into the bay.

“Not everyone’s immune system is going to be strong,” he said.

The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

By MATTHEW LEE, AP Diplomatic Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration is ramping up pressure on the International Criminal Court for pursuing investigations into U.S. and Israeli officials for alleged war crimes.

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The State Department on Wednesday announced new sanctions on four ICC officials, including two judges and two prosecutors, who it said had been instrumental in efforts to prosecute Americans and Israelis. As a result of the sanctions, any assets the targets hold in U.S. jurisdictions are frozen.

The sanctions are just the latest in a series of steps the administration has taken against The Hague-based court, the world’s first international war crimes tribunal. The U.S. has already imposed penalties on the ICC’s former chief prosecutor, Karim Khan, who stepped aside in May pending an investigation into alleged sexual misconduct, and four other tribunal judges.

In a statement, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said he had taken action against ICC judges Kimberly Proust of Canada and Nicolas Guillou of France and prosecutors Nazhat Shameem Khan of Fiji and Mame Mandiaye Niang of Senegal.

“These individuals are foreign persons who directly engaged in efforts by the International Criminal Court to investigate, arrest, detain, or prosecute nationals of the United States or Israel, without the consent of either nation,” Rubio said. He added that the administration would continue “to take whatever actions we deem necessary to protect our troops, our sovereignty, and our allies from the ICC’s illegitimate and baseless actions.”

In a separate statement, the State Department said Prost was hit for ruling to authorize an ICC investigation into U.S. personnel in Afghanistan, which was later dropped. Guillou was sanctioned for ruling to authorize the ICC’s issuance of arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant related to Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza. Hamas has been designated as a terrorist organization by the United States, Canada and the European Union.

Khan and Niang were penalized for continuing Karim Khan’s investigation into Israel’s actions in Gaza, including upholding the ICC’s arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant, according to the statement.

Wednesday’s move carries on a history of Trump administration actions against the ICC, of which the U.S. is not a member, dating back to his first term in office.

During Trump’s first term, the U.S. hit the ICC with sanctions, but those were rescinded by President Joe Biden’s administration in early 2021.

By ANDREW DeMILLO, Associated Press

Texas cannot require public schools in Houston, Austin and other select districts to display the Ten Commandments in every classroom, a judge said Wednesday in a temporary ruling against the state’s new requirement.

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Texas is the third state to have a Ten Commandments law blocked by a court.

A group of families from the districts sought a preliminary injunction against the law, which goes into effect on Sept. 1. They say the requirement violates the First Amendment’s protections for the separation of church and state and the right to free religious exercise.

Texas is the largest state to attempt such a requirement, and U.S. District Judge Fred Biery’s ruling from San Antonio is the latest in a widening legal fight that’s expected to eventually go before the U.S. Supreme Court.

“Even though the Ten Commandments would not be affirmatively taught, the captive audience of students likely would have questions, which teachers would feel compelled to answer. That is what they do,” Biery wrote in the 55-page ruling that began with quoting the First Amendment and ended with “Amen.”

The ruling prohibits the 11 districts and their affiliates from posting the displays required under the state law. The law is being challenged by a group of Christian, Jewish, Hindu, Unitarian Universalist, and nonreligious families, including clergy, who have children in the public schools.

The families were represented by the American Civil Liberties Union, Americans United for the Separation of Church and State and the Freedom from Religion Foundation.

“Today’s ruling is a major win that protects the constitutional right to religious freedom for Texas families of all backgrounds,” Tommy Buser-Clancy, senior staff attorney at the ACLU of Texas, said in a statement. “The court affirmed what we have long said: Public schools are for educating, not evangelizing.”

A broader lawsuit that names three Dallas-area districts as well as the state education agency and commissioner is pending in federal court.

A federal appeals court has blocked a similar law in Louisiana, and a judge in Arkansas told four districts they cannot put up the posters, although other districts in the state said they’re not putting them up either.

Although Friday’s ruling marked a major win for civil liberties groups who say the law violates the separation of church and state, the legal battle is likely far from over.

Religious groups and conservatives say the Ten Commandments are part of the foundation of the United States’ judicial and educational systems and should be displayed. Texas has a Ten Commandments monument on the Capitol grounds and won a 2005 Supreme Court case that upheld the monument.

In Louisiana — the first state that mandated the Ten Commandments be displayed in classrooms — a panel of three appellate judges in June ruled that the law was unconstitutional.

By ALLEN G. BREED and JOHN SEEWER, Associated press

RODANTHE, N.C. (AP) — From Florida to New England, people trying to enjoy the last hurrahs of summer along the coast were met with rip current warnings, closed beaches and in some cases already treacherous waves as Hurricane Erin inched closer Wednesday.

While forecasters remain confident that the center of the monster storm will stay far offshore, the outer edges are expected to bring high winds, large swells and life-threatening rip currents into Friday. Life-threatening surf and 100 mph winds will lash the East Coast, National Weather Service forecasters warned Wednesday.

New York City closed its beaches to swimming on Wednesday and Thursday, and New York Gov. Kathy Hochul ordered three state beaches on Long Island to prohibit swimming through Thursday. Several New Jersey beaches also will be temporarily off-limits, while some towns in Delaware have cut off ocean access.

Off Massachusetts, Nantucket Island could see waves of more than 10 feet later this week. But the biggest threat is along the barrier islands of North Carolina’s Outer Banks, where evacuations have been ordered.

Erin has become an unusually large and deceptively worrisome storm, with its tropical storm winds stretching 265 miles from its core. Forecasters expect it will grow larger in size as it moves through the Atlantic and curls north.

Bob Oravec, the lead National Weather Service forecaster in College Park, Maryland, cautioned people about the dangers of rip currents. Even if someone thinks they know how to handle a rip current, it’s still not safe in the current conditions.

“You can be aware all you want,” he said in a phone interview. “It can still be dangerous.”

On Tuesday it lashed the Turks and Caicos Islands, where government services were suspended and residents were ordered to stay home, along with parts of the Bahamas before its expected turn toward Bermuda.

Tropical storm watches were issued for Virginia and North Carolina as well as Bermuda.

Erin lost some strength from previous days and was a Category 2 hurricane with maximum sustained winds around 100 mph, the National Hurricane Center in Miami said. It was about 400 miles south-southeast of North Carolina’s Cape Hatteras.

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On the Outer Banks, Erin’s storm surge could swamp roads with waves of 15 feet. Mandatory evacuations were ordered on Hatteras and Ocracoke Islands. More than 2,200 people had left Ocracoke by ferry since Monday.

North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein warned coastal residents to be prepared to evacuate and declared a state of emergency Tuesday. Bulldozers shored up the dunes, and trucks from the local power company on Ocracoke were on hand to respond to downed wires.

Some side roads already saw some flooding on Hatteras, and the owners of a pier removed a few planks, hoping the storm surge would pass through without tearing it up.

Most residents decided to stay even though memories are still fresh of Hurricane Dorian in 2019, when 7 feet of water swamped Ocracoke, county commissioner Randal Mathews said.

Tom Newsom, who runs fishing charters on Hatteras, said has lived there almost 40 years and never evacuated. He was not going to this time either.

Comparing this hurricane to others he has seen, he called this one a “nor’easter on steroids.”

The Outer Banks’ thin stretch of low-lying barrier islands jutting into the Atlantic are increasingly vulnerable to storm surges. There are concerns that parts of the main highway could be washed out, leaving some routes impassible for days. And dozens of beach homes already worn down from chronic beach erosion and the loss of protective dunes could be at risk, said David Hallac, superintendent of the Cape Hatteras National Seashore.

Farther south, no evacuations were ordered but some beach access points were closed with water levels up to 3 feet over normal high tides expected for several days.

Climate scientists say Atlantic hurricanes are now much more likely to rapidly intensify into powerful and catastrophic storms fueled by warmer oceans. Two years ago Hurricane Lee grew with surprising speed while barreling offshore through the Atlantic, unleashing violent storms and rip currents.

Seewer reported from Toledo, Ohio. Associated Press journalists Dave Collins in Hartford, Connecticut; Jeffrey Collins in Columbia, South Carolina; Gary Robertson in Raleigh, North Carolina; Ben Finley in Norfolk, Virginia; Hallie Golden in Seattle; Leah Willingham in Boston; Safiyah Riddle in Montgomery, Alabama; and Julie Walker in New York contributed.