Occurrence of Vibrio parahaemolyticus in cockle (Anadara granosa) harvested from the south coast of Thailand

Abstract

Vibrio parahaemolyticus is a seafood-borne pathogen that is widely distributed in the marine environment. Theoccurrence of Vibrio parahaemolyticus in cockle (Anadara granosa) harvested at the south coast of Thailand was determined.A total of 65 samples were collected monthly. They were examined by polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Vibrioparahaemolyticus was found in all samples. The virulence strain carrying the thermostable direct hemolysin (tdh) and TDHrelatedhemolysin gene (trh) was found in samples collected in July. This information can be used for the risk-assessment planand eating cooked cockle is recommended.

Keywords

• cockle
• Vibrio parahaemolyticus
• tdh
• trh
• toxR