Infectious Disease Control UnitMail Code: 1960 PO BOX 149347 - Austin, TX 78714-93471100 West 49th Street, Suite T801Austin, TX 78714
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Vibrio parahaemolyticus is a bacterium commonly found in coastal marine waters and seafoods throughout the world.
This bacteria can make people sick in two ways. If it enters an opening in the skin, it can cause a serious skin infection. This usually happens when a person with a cut or abrasion swims or fishes in seawater containing a high number of these bacteria.
The bacteria can also cause diarrhea in people who eat contaminated seafood. When this happens, the person usually only gets mildly or moderately sick, although some people may become sick enough to be hospitalized. The patient may have symptoms such as diarrhea, abdominal cramps, nausea, vomiting, headache, fever, and chills. The illness lasts from 1-7 days, and usually begins within 12 and 24 hours of eating contaminated seafood, but can range from 4 to 30 hours.
In the United States, diarrheal illness is due to either eating raw and other improperly cooked shellfish or by consuming cooked fish and shellfish that was contaminated with the bacteria after it was cooked. Most outbreaks have happened because the seafood was allowed to touch other raw seafood, dirty surfaces or utensils, or the seafood was not kept cold enough. If seafood is not kept clean and properly chilled, the bacteria will grow rapidly in the seafood which then can make people sick.
In some cases, seafood can naturally become highly contaminated with these bacteria while it is still in coastal waters before being harvested.
Vibrio parahaemolyticus infections are fairly rare, but they are also under-reported to public health officials. In Texas, we usually have between 2 and 7 cases reported each year. Between 1988 and 1997, a total of 42 individuals were reported with a Vibrio parahaemolyticus infection in Texas. In most years, the majority of reported cases are of people with a skin or wound infection. In 1998, however, most of the people with this illness had diarrhea from eating raw seafood.
The diagnosis of this illness is made by taking stool samples from a sick person. The stool sample is allowed to grow more bacteria, then it is studied in a laboratory. The Texas Department of State Health Services is asking physicians to send stool samples from people who may have this illness to a laboratory. Laboratories must perform a special test on the stool sample to see if the sickness was caused by this bacteria. The Health Department has told doctors to suspect this illness when patients complain of diarrhea with fever, if the patient has eaten raw seafood.
Most people can get over this illness without any kind of treatment. However, a few people may be sick enough to be hospitalized and may need extra fluids.
No. These are short-term illnesses, and once you recover you should not expect any long-term effects.
Only raw seafood can cause this illness, so:
Certain health conditions put you at risk for serious illness or death if you become sick from eating contaminated raw seafood. People with the following health conditions should not eat seafood that is uncooked:
