The enterotoxigenicity of vibrio fluvialis isolated from aquatic sources in Thailand

Abstract

Vibrio fluvialis strains were isolated from 31 (26%) of 120 water samples collected in Samut Prakarn, Thailand, between August 1982 and July 1983. The monthly isolation rate of V. fluvialis from water was high in January, July and August. All 69 strains were anaerogenic. Examined in a rabbit ileal loop assay were 34 of the 69 water isolates, as well as 41 strains previously isolated by others in Asia from diarrhoea patients, six from persons without diarrhoea, and five from animals. Twenty-nine per cent (12/41) of V. fluvialis isolates from diarrhoea patients and only nine per cent (3/34) of isolates from water caused distension of ≥1.0 cm/mL in rabbit ileal loops (p<0.025). The results suggest that V. fluvialis prevalence in water varies during the year in Thailand, and that isolates from water are less enterotoxigenic, as determined by rabbit ileal loop tests, than are isolates from diarrhoea patients.