EVIDENCE THAT MORTALITY FROM VIBRIO-VULNIFICUS INFECTION RESULTS FROMSINGLE STRAINS AMONG HETEROGENEOUS POPULATIONS IN SHELLFISH

Vibrio vulnificus is the leading cause of food-related mortality repor ted in the state of Florida, It is normal microflora in marine environ ments, where seawater and molluscan shellfish are the primary vectors of V. vulnificus disease, Risk correlates with seasonally high numbers of V. vulnificus bacteria during the summer months. Currently, the in fectious dose for humans, as well as whether the disease is caused by single or multiple strains found in molluscan shellfish, is unknown. I n this work, we studied pulsed-field gel electrophoresis profiles of V . vulnificus strains isolated from blood and oysters associated with V . vulnificus disease, Results showed that ca. 10(3) V. vulnificus bact eria/gram of oyster and higher concentrations were associated with hum an infections and that a single V. vulnificus strain, evidenced by pul sed-field gel electrophoresis profiles, was isolated from human tissue s.