Identification of Vibrio parahaemolyticus outbreaks by bacterial culture of faecal specimens

Abstract

Vibrio parahaemolyticus is a cause of foodborne diarrhoea commonly associated with ingestion of seafood. Many laboratories use multiplex PCR assays to screen for bacterial faecal pathogens, which are narrow spectrum and miss uncommon pathogens. Our laboratory continues to perform culture, which has the advantage that strain typing and susceptibilities can be performed if needed. In 2021, we identified 33 cases as part of at least two outbreaks of V. parahaemolyticus by bacterial culture in our laboratory.