Occurrence of Pathogenic Vibrio parahaemolyticus in Seafood Distribution Channels and Their Antibiotic Resistance Profiles in S. Korea

This study investigated the occurrence ofVibrio parahaemolyticus in seafood distribution channels, and the incidence of pathogenic and antibiotic resistant strains. One hundred sixty seven samples (126 fishery samples and 41 environmental samples) were collected from fishery auction markets, fish markets, and online markets in S. Korea from March to September, 2017. The samples were enriched in polymyxin broth and plated on CHROM agar Vibrio to isolate typical colonies. These were analyzed by PCR to identifyV. parahaemolyticus strains containing thehns gene and to examine the presence of pathogenic genes (tdh andtrh). The isolates were screened for antibiotic susceptibility (amoxycillin/clavulanic acid, ampicillin, ampicillin sulbactam, chloramphenicol, ciprofloxacin, erythromycin, gentamicin, and tetracycline). Twenty eight samples (16.8%) wereV. parahaemolyticus‐positive, andfrom the positive samples three isolates (SMFM201708‐OY1, SMFM201709‐CO2‐2 and SMFM201709‐CO1‐2) were pathogenic which contained thermostable direct hemolysin (TDH) or thermostable direct‐related hemolysin (TRH). These are virulence factors associated with gastrointestina l symptoms. These three isolates were also resistant to ampicillin. These results indicate that there is high incidence ofV. parahaemolyticus; less than 10%. These were pathogenic, and the pathogenic strains showed ampicillin resistance. Therefore, food safety measures are necessary in a seafood distribution channel.This ...
Source: Letters in Applied Microbiology - Category: Microbiology Authors: Tags: Original Article Source Type: research