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Anchor: IF YOU'RE GOING TO BE AMONG THE THOUSANDS CROWDING THE BAY AND AREA BEACHES FOR THE LONG MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND, THERE IS REASON FOR CONCERN.

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A NEW PREDATOR HAS BEEN CREEPING UP THE COASTLINE..ATTACKING FISHERMEN, RECREATIONAL BOATERS, SWIMMERS..AND I'M NOT TALKING ABOUT SHARKS.

OUR ROBERTA BASKIN AND THE I-TEAM HAVE BEEN INVESTIGATING.

Roberta Baskin: We're talking about a flesh eating bacteria called Vibrio. It's the same dangerous bacteria that prompted health warnings about eating Gulf Coast oysters.

Now, doctors have discovered that same bacteria causing illness resulting from a simple cut or scrape.

Story: Doug Lempke is a third generation waterman on the Chesapeake Bay.

In the summer of 2005 his father died unexpectedly from a vibrio infection.

Doug Lempke: "It's been devastating. We're a very close family. And he was healthy. You don't expect someone's health to go like that."

Ronnie Campbell of Deltaville Virginia was cleaning his boat when a small scratch on his arm got infected.

Ronnie Campbell: "The doctor came in, examined my arm and he kind of stood back a little bit and 'ohhh.' And said, 'Mr. Campbell, he says, there is a chance we're going to have to amputate your arm tonight.'"

(GRAPHIC) These are just some of hundreds of vibrio cases a year the Centers for Disease Control attributes to wound infections.

Some victims have lost fingers… Others lost limbs… Many have died…and died quickly.

Just minor scratches and scrapes give this flesh-eating bacteria the opening it needs to invade the body.

Dr. Ron Haggerty: "I've had one particular patient who presented to the ER within twenty four hours of the onset of the symptoms and passed away within twenty four hours of admission to the hospital. It's a very fast-acting organism."

(GRAPHIC) VIBRIO CASES HAVE BEEN A PROBLEM MOSTLY SEEN IN THE WARM WATERS ALONG THE gULF OF mEXICO. bUT NOW CASES ARE BEING REPORTED ALL ALONG THE eAST cOAST… even as far north as sweden.

Researchers have their theories about why.

Forres: "There are probably several factors. But global warming is one of them."

Investigators at the Public Education Center in Washington are tracking vibrio, and the victims left in its wake.

Jessica Forres: "Well in the last two decades the Chesapeake Bay has increased by 2 degrees. And 3 to 5 degrees in some of its tributaries."

AND WHILE THE NUMBER OF REPORTED VIBRIO CASES IN THIS AREA IS SMALL, IT'S TRIPLED… AND THE CDC BELIEVES, IN GENERAL, VIBRIO NUMBERS ARE GROSSLY UNDER-REPORTED. THAT THE NUMBER OF ACTUAL CASES IS MORE THAN TEN TIMES HIGHER.

One reason is many doctors don't recognize the early symptoms of vibrio before it becomes life-threatening. But at the Riverside Walter Reed Hospital on the east coast of Virginia, they treated an outbreak of five vibrio cases in just one summer.

Heading up the emergency room, Dr. Thomas Young is familiar with the symptoms.

Dr. Thomas Young: "It's always found in salt water exposed injuries. And we see a lot of that because of our watermen in our population and recreational people around here. In the Chesapeake Bay it's very common. Not rare as the books say."

Ronnie Campbell believes getting an immediate diagnosis at that hospital saved his life. Campbell: "They said I was very lucky. You'd be looking at a stub over here probably and I wouldn't be fishing as much as I do."

And Doug Lempke believes his dad would be alive Wednesday if the vibrio diagnosis had been made faster.

Lempke: "He went to the hospital and they sent him back home."

Lempke wants more people to be aware of Vibrio.

Lempke: "If it can protect one person. Or keep a family from going through what we went through, it's worth it."

Roberta Baskin: You don't have to give up swimming or fishing. But doctors the I-Team spoke with suggest that if you have a cut or scrape you should know the risks of going in the Chesapeake or any salty, brackish water during the warm weather months.

State health officials are also recommending that medical laboratories do a better job of reporting vibrio cases.

Council on State and Territorial Epidemiologists position on vibriosis reporting 2005 summary of Vibrio illnesses reported to CDC 2004 summary of Vibrio illnesses reported to CDC 2003 summary of Vibrio illnesses reported to CDC 2002 summary of Vibrio illnesses reported to CDC 2001 summary of Vibrio illnesses reported to CDC 2000 summary of Vibrio illnesses reported to CDC 1999 summary of Vibrio illnesses reported to CDC 1997-8 summary of Vibrio illnesses reported to CDC CDC vibrio disease information Vibrio in Canada Public Education Center story on Vibrio Vibrio Information Sheet