A rapid and improved method for the detection of Vibrio parahaemolyticus and Vibrio vulnificus strains grown on hydrophobic grid membrane filters

Phenotypic and genotypic characterization of Canadian clinical isolates of Vibrio parahaemolyticus collected from 2000 to 2009

Vibrio parahaemolyticus is the leading bacterial cause of food-borne illness due to the consumption of contaminated seafood. The aim of the present study was to determine the population of its subtypes and establish a better understanding of the various types of V. parahaemolyticus strains that are causing human illness in Canada. The subtypes for 100 human clinical isolates of V. parahaemolyticus collected between 2000 and 2009 were determined by performing serotyping, ribotyping, pulsed-field gel electrophoresis, and multilocus sequence typing. Within this panel of strains, there was a high level of diversity (between 22 and 53 subtypes per method), but the presence of predominant clones with congruent subtypes between the various methods was also observed. For example, all 32 isolates belonging to sequence type 36 (ST36) were from serogroup O4, while 31 of them were ribotype EcoVib235-287, and 24 of the 32 were SfiI pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) pattern VPSF1.0001. With regard to the presence of known virulence genes, 74 of the 100 isolates were PCR positive for the presence of the thermostable direct hemolysin (tdh); and 59 of these 74 strains also contained the second virulence marker, the tdh-related hemolysin (trh). The detection of trh was more predominant (81%) among the clinical isolates, and only four (4%) of the clinical isolates tested negative for the presence of both tdh and trh. This database, comprising 100 clinical isolates of V. parahaemolyticus strains from Canada, forms a baseline understanding of subtype diversity for future source attribution and other epidemiologic studies.

Vibrio parahaemolyticus: a concern of seafood safety

Vibrio parahaemolyticus is a human pathogen that is widely distributed in the marine environments. This organism is frequently isolated from a variety of raw seafoods, particularly shellfish. Consumption of raw or undercooked seafood contaminated with V. parahaemolyticus may lead to development of acute gastroenteritis characterized by diarrhea, headache, vomiting, nausea, and abdominal cramps. This pathogen is a common cause of foodborne illnesses in many Asian countries, including China, Japan and Taiwan, and is recognized as the leading cause of human gastroenteritis associated with seafood consumption in the United States. This review gives an overview of V. parahaemolyticus food poisoning and provides information on recent development in methods for detecting V. parahaemolyticus and strategies for reducing risk of V. parahaemolyticus infections associated with seafood consumption.