Abstract

Most Vibrio infections are associated with the consumption of raw or undercooked sea foods or exposure of wounds to warm seawater. In this study, 63 samples of a variety of sea foods viz: shrimps, periwinkle, prawn, crayfish collected from two major household markets in Port-Harcourt were cultivated using standard bacteriological method on Thiosulphate Citrate Bile Sucrose (TCBS) agar. A total of 63 Vibrios belonging to seven different species were isolated with Vibrio fluvialis recorded as the highest percentage frequency occurrence and the most predominant species, 30 (47.6%), followed by Vibrio paraheamolyticus with 19 (30.2%), Vibrio vulnificus with 4 (6.34%), Vibrio metschnikovi with 4 (6.34%), Photobacterium spp. with 3 (4.76%), Vibrio cholerae with 2 (3.17%) and the least was Vibrio mimicus with 1 (1.60%). Statistically, there was a significant different (P< 0.05) in prawn sold in Mile 1 market as compared to prawn sold in Mile 3 markets. These isolates were subjected to their susceptibility patterns using agar diffusion method, which recorded susceptible to most antibiotics used. The presence of these pathogenic strains of Vibrios in commonly consumed sea foods is of public concern.

Key words: Vibrios, sea foods, Nigeria.