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A team of students collect oysters to look at environmental conditions favouring Vibrio parahaemolyticus. (Photo: UNH)
Scientists identify new strain of bacteria contaminating molluscs
(UNITED STATES, 2/9/2017)
Scientists of the University of New Hampshire (UNH) in partnership with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and public health and shellfish management agencies in five states, have identified a new strain of a bacteria that has been contaminating molluscs on the Atlantic coast at an increasing rate for a decade.
A team of scientists at the N.H. Agricultural Experiment Station have discovered that a Vibrio parahaemolyticus strain identified as ST631 is a predominant strain endemic to the Atlantic Coast of North America, and has been traced to shellfish harvested in seven Atlantic coastal states and Canada.
The strain is the second most prevalent isolated from patients sickened by product sourced to the Northeast United States.
Vibrio parahaemolyticus is the leading seafood-transmitted bacterial pathogen worldwide. It is estimated that there are about 45,000 cases of infections in the United States each year, causing gastroenteritis and, rarely, lethal septicemia.
"We now know which strain is out there in shellfish areas, which means with directed surveillance, we can monitor its presence, its spread, and potentially reduce infections," said Cheryl Whistler, associate professor of molecular, cellular, and biomedical sciences at the UNH.
The researchers also recently developed a predictive modelling tool capable of estimating the likelihood of Vibrio parahaemolyticus presence in coastal New Hampshire oysters.
This latest study represents an initial step to study the populations of this bacteria at this more detailed scale within a shellfish harvest area-sized study area to help inform larger regional efforts to develop risk forecasting tools for the region.
This material is based upon work supported by the NH Agricultural Experiment Station, through joint funding of the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, U.S. Department of Agriculture.
The new findings were reported in a letter to the editor in the Journal of Clinical Microbiology.
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