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Snapshot of Vibrio parahaemolyticus densities in open and closed shellfish beds in Coastal South Carolina and Mississippi

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Abstract

Vibrio parahaemolyticus is a Gram negative, halophilic bacterium that is ubiquitous in warm, tropical waters throughout the world. It is a major cause of seafood-associated gastroenteritis and is generally associated with consumption of raw or undercooked seafood, especially oysters. This study presents a snapshot of total V. parahaemolyticus densities in surface waters and shellstock American oysters (Crassostrea virginica) from open and closed shellfish harvesting areas, as well as “more rural areas” on two different US coasts, the Atlantic and the Gulf. Sampling was conducted from 2001 to 2003 at five sites near Charleston/Georgetown, SC and at four locations in the Gulfport/Pascagoula, MS area. V. parahaemolyticus numbers were determined by a direct plating method using an alkaline-phosphatase-labeled DNA probe targeting the species-specific thermolabile hemolysin gene (tlh) that was used for identification of bacterial isolates. The greatest difference between the two coasts was salinity; mean salinity in SC surface waters was 32.9 ppt, whereas the mean salinity in MS waters was 19.2 ppt, indicating more freshwater input into MS shellfish harvesting areas during the study period. The mean V. parahaemolyticus numbers in oysters were almost identical between the two states (567.4 vs. 560.1 CFU/g). Bacterial numbers in the majority of surface water samples from both states were at or below the limit of detection (LOD = <10 CFU/mL). The bacterial concentrations determined during this study predict a low public health risk from consumption of oysters in shellfish growing areas on either the Gulf or the Atlantic US coast.

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Acknowledgments

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), National Ocean Service (NOS) does not approve, recommend, or endorse any proprietary product or material mentioned in this publication. Partial funding for this project was provided by a grant from the NOAA Aquatic Invasive Species Council (Dorn Carlson & Dean Wilkinson). We thank Ben Whaley and Harry Seel with South SCDHEC, AK Leight, Blaine West, and Rusty Day at the NOAA CCEHBR Lab for sample collection and transport to the Lab in Charleston, SC. We are grateful to James Daugomah at the NOAA CCEHBR Lab for creating GIS maps of sampling sites. We also thank the Mississippi Department of Marine Resources, Fisheries Personnel, who collected samples and transported them to the NMFS, NSIL Lab in Pascagoula, Mississippi.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), National Ocean Service (NOS), National Center for Coastal Ocean Science (NCCOS), Center for Coastal Environmental Health and Biomolecular Research (CCEHBR) Lab, Charleston, SC, USA

    J. Gooch Moore, K. Ballenger-Bass, P. L. Pennington & G. I. Scott

  2. National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), Office of Sustainable Fisheries, National Seafood Inspection Lab (NSIL), Pascagoula, MS, USA

    A. Ruple & S. Bell

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  1. J. Gooch Moore
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  2. A. Ruple
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  3. K. Ballenger-Bass
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  5. P. L. Pennington
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  6. G. I. Scott
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Correspondence to J. Gooch Moore.

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Moore, J.G., Ruple, A., Ballenger-Bass, K. et al. Snapshot of Vibrio parahaemolyticus densities in open and closed shellfish beds in Coastal South Carolina and Mississippi. Environ Monit Assess 186, 7949–7960 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-014-3979-z

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