Occurrence and expression of virulence-related properties of Vibrio species isolated from widely consumed seafood products

In this study, widely consumed fresh seafood products were examined for the presence of Vibrio spp. Thirteen percent of the samples examined were foun d to be contaminated with halophilic vibrios belonging to the species V. al ginolyticus (81.48%), V. parahaemolyticus (14.8%) and V. cholerae non 0:1 ( 3.7%). A greater isolation frequency (18.9%) was found for mussels. Signifi cant adhesiveness and strong cytotoxicity factors were revealed in a signif icant number of the Vibrio spp. isolated. These results confirm that the pr esence of Vibrio spp. in seafood products is common, and suggest that routi ne examination of such products for these pathogenic agents would be advisa ble. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.