PandemicVibrio parahaemolyticus, Maryland, USA, 2012

Julie Haendiges,Narjol Gonzalez-Escalona,Eric W Brown,Peter Evans,Robert A Myers,Marvin Rock

doi:10.3201/eid2004.130818

Abstract

To the Editor: Since 1996, an increasing number of infections caused by Vibrio parahaemolyticus strains belonging to a pandemic clonal complex (CC), CC3, typically O3:K6, have been observed worldwide (1–3); most of these strains are sequence type (ST) 3. In the summer of 1998, outbreaks linked to O3:K6 occurred in Galveston Bay, Texas, and Oyster Bay, New York, USA; the illnesses were associated with oyster consumption (4). Strains belonging to CC36 are the leading cause of V. parahaemolyticus infections in the United States. These strains are endemic to the West Coast (2) and have been historically linked to outbreak-associated V. parahaemolyticus infections caused by consumption of raw oysters harvested from the region (5).

Highlights

To the Editor: Since 1996, an increasing number of infections caused by Vibrio parahaemolyticus strains belonging to a pandemic clonal complex (CC), CC3, typically O3:K6, have been observed worldwide [1,2,3]; most of these strains are sequence type (ST) 3
The whole genomes of the 3 Maryland strains were sequenced by using the Ion Torrent personal genome machine (Life Technologies, Grand Island, NY, USA); in silico multilocus sequence typing (MLST) [2] showed that the isolates were all ST3, the most common sequence type (ST) belonging to CC3
We identified 2,613 variable loci in this analysis by using as reference genome the prototype pandemic V. parahaemolyticus clonal strain RIMD221633 [10]

Summary

Introduction

To the Editor: Since 1996, an increasing number of infections caused by Vibrio parahaemolyticus strains belonging to a pandemic clonal complex (CC), CC3, typically O3:K6, have been observed worldwide [1,2,3]; most of these strains are sequence type (ST) 3. Strains belonging to CC36 are the leading cause of V. parahaemolyticus infections in the United States.

Results

Conclusion