title: Occurrence of Vibrio and other pathogenic bacteria in Mytilus galloprovincialis (mussels) harvested from Adriatic Sea, Italy.
abstract: Sixty-two samples of Mytilus galloprovincialis (mussels) harvested from approved shellfish waters in the Adriatic Sea were examined for the presence of Vibrio, Salmonella, Campylobacter, and verocytotoxin producing Escherichia coli. Vibrio spp. were isolated from 48.4% of samples; the species most frequently found were V. alginolyticus (32.2%) and V. vulnificus (17.7%), followed by V. cincinnatiensis (3.2%), V. parahaemolyticus (1.6%), V. fluvialis (1.6%) and V. cholerae non-O1 (1.6%). V. parahaemolyticus resulted negative to Kanagawa-phenomenon and to PCR amplification of tdh gene. V. cholerae resulted negative to PCR amplification of sto gene. No Salmonella, Campylobacter, or E. coli verocytotoxin-producing strains were isolated. The results of this study suggest the potential risk of ingesting raw or undercooked mussels due to the frequent presence of potentially pathogenic Vibrio species.
authors.affiliation: Department of Animal Plant and Environmental Science, Univeristy of Molise, Italy.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Ripabelli
authors.forename: M L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Sammarco
authors.forename: G M
authors.initials: GM
authors.lastname: Grasso
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Fanelli
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Caprioli
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Luzzi
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001427:Bacterial Toxins / Q000096:biosynthesis; D049872:Bivalvia / Q000382:microbiology*; D002167:Campylobacter / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D002522:Chlorocebus aethiops; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000302:isolation & purification* / Q000378:metabolism; D007558:Italy; D008522:Mediterranean Sea; D012475:Salmonella / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D022622:Shiga Toxin 1; D014709:Vero Cells; D014733:Vibrio / Q000302:isolation & purification*
chemical_list: D001427:Bacterial Toxins; D022622:Shiga Toxin 1