Food poisoning due to Vibrio parahaemolyticus.

Abstract

Vibrio parahaemoiyticus is a neophyte among enteric pathogens. It was first recog­ nized as a cause of food poisoning in Japan in the early 1950s (I), but its public health significance was not fully appreciated for a decade. Articles published in English do not make clear what factors contributed to its recognition in Japan. The importance of fish in the Japanese diet and the occurrence of large outbreaks along the Pacific Coast associated with marine foods (2) in the late 1950s undoubtedly played a significant role in stimulating microbiologists to search for organisms other than the known enteric pathogens, which were clearly not responsible for these outbreaks. The threat of invasion of EI Tor cholera into Japan in the early 1960s also may have stimulated Japanese health authorities to search for vibrios in fecal cultures from persons with acute enteric disease. Finally, the introduction of new methods to culture vibrios also undoubtedly contributed. In any event it soon became evident that V. parahaemoiyticus was the leading cause of foodborne illness in Japan, especially during the summer months, when it accounted for roughly 70% of all reported foodborne illnesses (3). During the 1960s most public health workers considered this problem unique to Japan because of the apparent relationship with the popular Japanese custom of eating raw seafood. They were convinced otherwise a decade later because of events remarkably similar to those that had transpired earlier in Japan. In the early 1970s, EI Tor cholera spread into the Middle East, Africa, and Spain and Portugal. Al­ though there was no serious concern that cholera would spread in the United States, the introduction of disease via Americans returning from infected foci was consid­ ered a growing possibility (4). To ensure early recognition in such incidents the Center for Disease Control (CDC) actively encouraged the use ofTCBS (thiosulfate­ citrate-bile salt-sucrose) medium in searching for vibrios in diarrheal stools. At about the same time, published reports demonstrated the ubiquity of V. parahae-