title: Comparative studies on nutritional and physiological characteristics of Vibrio parahaemolyticus originating from Germany, Togo and Peru.
abstract: During monitoring of bathing areas on the German North Sea coast, 24 strains of V. parahaemolyticus were obtained from 32 water samples. The similarity of these strains to 80 V. parahaemolyticus strains isolated in Togo (patients and environment) and Peru (environment), respectively, was studied using 53 tests (fermentation of carbohydrates, decarboxylation of amino acids and utilisation of different C-sources). The results show a high degree of similarity among all strains with regard to fermentation properties (except fermentation of arabinose and decarboxylation of ornithine). Pronounced differences were found by tests for utilisation of different C-sources. A statistical computerized evaluation of the results revealed a closer relatedness of the German strains to isolates from Togo than to those from environmental sources of Peru. Additional tests for determination of the minimal inhibitory concentration of 11 antibiotics resulted in a high degree of similarity, too. Examination of 3014 faeces specimens from patients with acute enteric disease for V. parahaemolyticus were negative.
mesh_terms: D001431:Bacteriological Techniques; D001493:Bathing Beaches; D005243:Feces / Q000382:microbiology; D005860:Germany, West; D006801:Humans; D010568:Peru; D013045:Species Specificity; D014037:Togo; D014735:Vibrio Infections / Q000382:microbiology; D014736:Vibrio parahaemolyticus / Q000502:physiology*; D014871:Water Microbiology