Presence of pathogenic Vibrio parahaemolyticus in waters and seafood from the Tunisian Sea.

The occurrence of the hemolysin genes, tdh and trh, in Vibrio parahaemolyticus strains isolated from environmental samples collected from various exported seafood products comprising of fishes and shellfish (Mytilus edulis and Crassostrea gigas) or seawater, was studied. Eight strains were confirmed as V. parahaemolyticus by toxR -based polymerase chain reaction and only one strain out of these 8 strains was positive for tdh and trh genes. Toxigenic V. parahaemolyticus isolates are present in Tunisian coastal areas and they may also be present in Tunisian exported seafood products.