Vibrio (genus)

Vibrio is a genus of facultatively anaerobic, oxidase-positive, Gram-negative bacteria. They are flagellated and in the shape of curved rods. Most species of the genus are pathogenic, although not all to humans, and there can be nonpathogenic strains within a species. Some Vibrio species are important pathogens of fish and crustaceans, which may be opportunistic pathogens in people with skin wounds.

Another classification is whether they are halophilic, require sodium chloride for growth, or are nonhalophilic. The nonhalophilic forms tolerate salt, so a nonpathogenic strain was selected for laboratory quality control of thiosulfate-citrate-bile salts-sucrose (TCBS) culture media selective for pathogenic vibrios.

Pathology

Human

In man, Vibrio strains can cause potentially fatal gastroenteritis, wound infections, and septicemia.

The epidemic significance of cholera is so great that medical microbiologists split the forms into enteropathogenic V. chlolerae, and the other pathogenic Vibrios. Of the non-cholera forms, in the United States, Vibrio parahaemolyticus is the most frequent source of infection, but Vibrio vulnificus causes 94% of the reported deaths. Since TCBS media are not routinely used for stool cultures, gastroenteritis may be underreported.

Pathology	Species	Mechanisms
Gastroenteritis	*Vibrio parahaemolyticus Vibrio cholerae non-01 Vibrio fluvialis Vibrio mimicus Vibrio furnissii Vibrio hollisae Vibrio alginolyticus [[Vibrio vulnificus	Cytotoxin, Hemolysin
Wound infection	*Vibrio alginolyticus Vibrio vulnificus Vibrio cholerae non-01 Vibrio damsela Vibrio carchariae Vibrio fluvialis Vibrio parahaemolyticus Vibrio mimicus	protease, hemolysin, lipase, DNAase, cytolysin
Septicemia	*Vibrio vulnificus Vibrio fluvialis Vibrio damsela Vibrio cholerae non-01 Vibrio cincinnatiensis	proteases, endotoxic lipopolysaccharide

Marine life

In a study done in Gudalajara, Mexico, the overall presence of V. parahaemolyticus samples was 45.6%, with 71.4% in fish, 44.0% in oysters, and 27.6% in shrimp.