County of Los Angeles
Department of Public Health
Acute Communicable Disease Control
313 N. Figueroa Street, Room 212
Los Angeles, CA 90012
Phone: (213) 240-7941
Fax: (213) 482-4856
E-Mail:acdc2@ph.lacounty.gov
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Acute Communicable Disease Control
Vibriosis
The genus Vibrio consists of Gram-negative, curved, motile rods, and contains about a dozen species
known to cause human illness. Transmission is most often through ingestion via a foodborne route,
but also from contact between broken skin and contaminated water. Presenting symptoms vary by
species and mode of transmission. The Vibrio species of greatest public health importance in the
US are: V. vulnificus which causes a primary septicemia and is often associated with oysters
harvested in the Gulf of Mexico, and V. parahaemolyticus, which presents as gastrointestinal illness.
Cholera, a potentially fatal diarrheal disease caused by V. cholerae serotypes O1 and O139, is rarely
imported into the US.
The genus Vibrio consists of Gram-negative, curved, motile rods, and contains about a dozen species
known to cause human illness. Transmission is most often through ingestion via a foodborne route,
but also from contact between broken skin and contaminated water. Presenting symptoms vary by
species and mode of transmission. The Vibrio species of greatest public health importance in the
US are: V. vulnificus which causes a primary septicemia and is often associated with oysters
harvested in the Gulf of Mexico, and V. parahaemolyticus, which presents as gastrointestinal illness.
Cholera, a potentially fatal diarrheal disease caused by V. cholerae serotypes O1 and O139, is rarely
imported into the US.
