Microbiological Coastal Risks and Monitoring Systems - Vulnerability of Coastal Ecosystems and Adaptation - page 105

with around 3 million cases per year, with a 2.4% mortality
[WHO 11]. The disease is triggered by serogroups O1 and O139 of
V. cholerae , which possess the choleric toxin (CT).
The non-choleric human pathogenic vibrios are responsible for
numerous cases of infections following the consumption of seafood in
Asian countries and the United States [DAN 00, SU 07].
V. cholerae non-O1/non-O139, present in estuary systems, is
capable of causing gastroenteritis of varying severity after the
consumption of shellfish.
Present in coastal waters, V. parahaemolyticus was identified as a
pathogen for humans in 1950 in Japan and Asia, following infections
originating from food [SU 07]. Since then, significant epidemics of
gastroenteritis from V. parahaemolyticus have occurred on all
continents, and their principal cause is the consumption of shellfish
and raw or slightly cooked seafood products, which makes this
bacteria one of the main pathogens, responsible not only for
gastroenteritis, but also for the infection of wounds and septicemia.
Vibrio vulnificus , present in environments with variable salinity
such as estuaries and coastal lagoons, is responsible for septicemia
after the ingestion of shellfish by individuals who are weakened or
who have immunodeficiency [OLI 06]. In the United States,
V . vulnificus is responsible for 95% of all deaths linked to
the consumption of sea produce. Moreover, infections due to these
bacteria, following consumption of shellfish (essentially oysters), have
the highest mortality rate (50-60%). V. vulnificus is also associated
with the serious infection of wounds, causing gangrene.
The presence of non-choleric human pathogenic vibrios is already
well documented for coastal waters and shellfish in European
countries, in Italy, Spain, Denmark and Norway [BAR 99, BAU 06,
HOI 98, MAR 08]. These vibrios have been isolated in waters and in
shellfish along the entire coast of France (the Channel, the Atlantic
and the Mediterranean) [CAN 13, DET 10, HER 02]. Some epidemics
have been described in this country, although they are rarely severe