Incidence of Vibrio spp. in shrimp caught off the south coast of Iran

Shrimp is one of the most important fishery products of Persian Gulf coastal provinces of Iran. Sea foods are prone to bacterial contamination and could cause health risk to the consumers. To examine shrimp caught off the south coast of Iran, 770 samples of fresh shrimp collected from either sea or shrimp farm were tested for possible presence of Vibrio spp. Twenty-five grams of homogenized sample diluted with 225 ml of alkaline peptone water contains 1% NaCl, pH=8.6 and remained in 37 °C for 6–8 h. After primary enrichment, TCBS was used as selective medium for separation of Vibrios colonies. Vibrio spp. were separated from 16 samples out of 770 sample that represent for 2.1% of collected shrimp samples. Separated Vibrio spp. were V. parahaemolyticus, V. damsela, V. alginolyticus and V. fluvialis. However, no contamination of shrimp with V. cholerae was observed. It should be mentioned that Vibrios such as V. damsela, V. alginolyticus and V. fluvialis are indigenous to the marine environment and shrimps. Cultivated shrimp in Iran is washed with fresh water contains 2–7 ppm chlorine and freeze at −40 °C.