from Indrani Karunasagar, Krishna Kumar and G. Balakrish Nair writing in Foodborne and Waterborne Bacterial Pathogens: Epidemiology, Evolution and Molecular Biology:
Members of the Vibrionaceae family occurring in marine environment are responsible for many of the reported cases of infection worldwide. Among these, Vibrio parahaemolyticus is an important food-borne pathogen transmitted through contaminated seafood. Historically, food poisoning due to V. parahaemolyticus occurred as sporadic cases caused by different serotypes without the clustering of one particular serotype. With the emergence of the pandemic clone belonging to O3:K6 serotype in Kolkata, India, in 1996, the epidemiology of this organism changed abruptly causing large outbreaks and rapid hospitalizations. This new highly virulent strain is now globally disseminated. This review traces the epidemiology of the pandemic strain of V. parahaemolyticus, its emergence, molecular characteristics and clonal dissemination.
Further reading: Foodborne and Waterborne Bacterial Pathogens: Epidemiology, Evolution and Molecular Biology