Prevalence of pathogenic V. parahaemolyticus and V. vulnificus in oysters harvested in Newport Bay California
Emily Cooksey1, Amy Zimmer-Faust2, Rachel Ellen Diner3, Joshua A Steele2, John F Griffith2 and Marc Verhougstraete4, (1)University of Arizona, Community, Environment and Policy, Tucson, AZ, United States, (2)Southern California Coastal Water Research Project, Microbiology, Costa Mesa, CA, United States, (3)University of California, San Diego / J. Craig Venter Institute, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, La Jolla, CA, United States, (4)Univeristy of Arizona, Community, Environment and Policy, United States
Abstract:
Vibrio parahaemolyticus and
V. vulnificus infections, the leading cause of seafood related deaths in the United States, have been increasing over the past decade. As
Vibrio is naturally occurring in brackish water, it is imperative to understand the prevalence of
Vibrio to better quantify human health risk associated with the consumption of oysters. Given a majority of
Vibrio research is conducted on the East and Gulf Coast of the United States, this study provides a unique insight into
Vibrio populations in Southern California. In this study, the prevalence of
V. parahaemolyticus and
V. vulnificus and associated toxin genes was quantified in water and deployed oysters (
Crassostrea gigas) in Newport Bay, CA.
Oysters (n= 720) were depurated, deployed, and collected from 12 sites within Newport Bay over a six-week period between August 2019 and September 2019. Water samples (n = 72) were collected concurrently. Oyster and water samples were evaluated for pathogenic V. parahaemolyticus (tdh and trh) and V. vulnificus (vcgC and vcgE) genes utilizing culture-based and qPCR methods. Potentially pathogenic V. parahaemolyticus and V. vulnificus have been identified in oyster and water samples. Potentially pathogenic V. vulnificus has been detected at a greater frequency in water samples. Spearman rank correlations coefficients will be used to assess the correlation between Vibrio population and environmental parameters.
This study is one of the first to evaluate levels of V. parahaemolyticus and V. vulnificus in oysters harvested in Southern California.
