A. Dalsgaard et L. Hoi, PREVALENCE AND CHARACTERIZATION OF VIBRIO-VULNIFICUS ISOLATED FROM SHRIMP PRODUCTS IMPORTED INTO DENMARK, Journal of food protection, 60(9), 1997, pp. 1132-1134
Vibrio vulnificus is a naturally occurring bacterium in tropical aquat
ic environments. We investigated the prevalence of V. vulnificus in fr
ozen shrimp products mainly originating from tropical countries by pre
-enrichment of samples in alkaline peptone water supplemented with pol
ymyxin B (APWP) followed by subculture onto modified cellobiose-polymy
xin B-colistin (mCPC) agar. V. vulnificus was detected in 3 of 46 (7%)
frozen raw shrimp samples analyzed. However, V. vulnificus was not re
covered from any of the 61 frozen cooked products, suggesting that the
se products were adequately heat treated and that cross-contamination
did not occur during processing. The pre-enrichment of shrimp samples
in APWP followed by subculture on mCPC agar proved useful for the isol
ation of V. vulnificus. The absence of V. vulnificus in frozen cooked
shrimp products and the low prevalence of V. vulnificus in frozen raw
shrimp suggest that V. vulnificus in imported shrimp products does not
constitute a potential hazard to public health.