Virulent strains of Vibrio vulnificus isolated from estuaries of the United States West Coast

Abstract

Vibrio vulnificus was isolated from United States West Coast estuaries at a low frequency (5.9%) from 529 samples of water, shellfish, and sediment. Four strains tested with iron-treated mice had 50% lethal dose values ranging from 7.6 to 360 CFU, compared with a 50% lethal dose of 4.9 CFU for a clinical isolate that caused the death of a septicemic patient. The presence of this pathogen may be a hazard to users of marine beaches and consumers of raw shellfish on the West Coast, especially to persons most susceptible to V. vulnificus septicemia. Species-specific antiflagellar serum and a gene probe for cytotoxin-hemolysin production were useful for screening these environmenta.l isolates. A halophilic, lactose-fermenting Vibrio species, first described in 1976 as causing septicemia in a human patient (8),

Virulence factors and pathogenicity of Vibrio vulnificus strains isolated from seafood

“…Twenty-nine (64·4%) out of 45 seafood samples were contaminated with V. vulnificus strains lethal to mice. Kaysner et al (1987) reported similar results (60%) in strains isolated from the environment. In their methodology, the authors inoculated 10 8 cfu ml −1 in PBS, in groups of three animals.…”

“…Lethality to mice was examined as previously described by Kaysner et al (1987) with modifications. The strains were grown for 24 h at 35°C in BHI broth.…”

First record of Vibrio vulnificus biotype 2 from diseased European eel, Anguilla anguilla L.

“…The present authors' strains, as well as the Japanese ones, are sensitive to a broad spectrum of antimicrobial compounds, being resistant to amoxicillin, penicillin, streptomycin, sulphonamides, fosphomycin and polymyxin B. Oxolinic acid, one of the drugs most currently employed in aquaculture (Austin & Austin 1987), gave the strongest inhibition on the Mueller-Hinton plates, and was therefore chosen to control the disease. Tison et al, (1982) described biotype 2 of the species only with three strains originally isolated from diseased eels in Japan by Muroga et al (1976a), whereas V. vulnificus biotype 1 has been isolated from sea water and shellfish (Tamplin, Rodrick, Blake & Cuba 1982;Oliver, Warner & Cleland 1983;Kaysner, Abeyta, Wekell, DePaola, Stott & Leicht 1987). In the present study, the diseased eels had different origins; therefore, it is impossible to ascertain the source of the microorganism.…”

Possible interference of lactose‐fermenting marine vibrios in coliform ‐D‐galactosidase assays

“…In summer and in warmer waters, V. vulnzjcus may be present in high numbers, and is more likely to be a problem than in colder months and waters, when the organism enters into a viable, nonculturable state (@Neil1 et al 1992) and is rarely isolated (Kelly 1982). Vrbrio vulnrficus has been isolated from waters with salinities of 0.8-34o/w, and temperatures of 1 3-31°C, but more frequently from waters with salinities of 15-25%0, and temperatures of 17-31°C (Kaysner et al 1987). In the presence/absence format of Colilert-MW, V. vulnzjicus would only cause false-positive reactions in the absence of coliforms, and in the Most Probable Number format of Colilert-MW, a false-positive reaction would occur if the numbers of V. vulnifcus were higher than the numbers of coliforms.…”