With a nearly 50-percent mortality rate, Vibrio vulnificus is the most deadly foodborne pathogen in the world, according to University of North Carolina at Charlotte Biology Professor Jim Oliver. And instances of infection in the U.S., however rare, are rapidly rising.
Fifteen years ago, there were 21 confirmed cases of Vibrio vulnificus and parahaemolyticus infections in the U.S. Last year, there were 193.
While infections from either of the pathogens are still rare compared with, say, Salmonella and Campylobacter, the incidence rate grew faster than any of the other five microbes tracked in the Centers for Disease Control’s 2012 Food Safety Progress Report. The vulnificus strain is responsible for 95 percent of seafood-related illness fatalities in the U.S., according to a 2013 study by Oliver and Joanna Nowakowska. Another Vibrio strain, parahaemolyticus, is milder, causing diarrhea, nausea, fever and chills, according to CDC.
FoodWorld 