COCODRIE, La. -- After flesh-eating bacteria claimed the life of his father, Michael Theriot is warning people against swimming in Louisiana bayous.

Related Link: More On Vibrio vulnificus

Last month, Michael Theriot Sr. was on the Robinson Canal in Cocodrie, La., when he fell overboard and cut his hand on a piece of tin.

From then on, he battled an infection of Vibrio vulnificus, a disease found during the summer months in warm salt water.

"Twenty-six days he stayed in the hospital on life support, from the time of the accident until he passed away on June 12," Theriot said.

Symptoms include fever, chills, diarrhea and intense stomach pain. Vibrio vulnificus can be treated with antibiotics, but it has to be treated early.

Or, as Theriot warned, don't go into the water at all.

"As we have seen in the last month, it can be very devastating," he said.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said bloodstream infections are fatal in about 50 percent of cases.