Disease from infection with Vibrio mimicus, a newly recognized Vibrio species. Clinical characteristics and edipemiology.

Clinical and epidemiologic characteristics of disease associated with a newly described nonhalophilic Vibrio species, Vibrio mimicus, were identified by studying isolates from 21 patients referred to the Centers for Disease Control between 1977 and 1981. Two isolates were from the ears of patients with otitis who had recently been exposed to seawater. Nineteen isolates were from stool samples; these patients generally had diarrhea, nausea, vomiting, and abdominal cramps, with fever, headache, and bloody diarrhea occurring in fewer than half. Persons with diarrhea were more likely than age- and sex-matched controls to have eaten raw oysters (p = 0.013). Although most cases were sporadic, three were associated with a single outbreak. Only two isolates produced toxin found by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay or the Y-1 adrenal cell assay for heat-labile toxin, and none produced heat-stable toxin found by the infant mouse assay. Vibrio mimicus should be considered in the differential diagnosis of acute gastroenteritis occurring after recent ingestion of seafood (especially raw oysters) and in acute otitis after exposure to seawater.