Overview

  • Gram negative bacteria
  • Found in aquatic environments
  • Opportunistic pathogens of fish, reptiles and rarely mammals
  • Vibrio cholerae causes cholera in humans, a severe enteric disease

Characteristics

  • Curved rods
  • Catalase and oxidase positive
  • Facultative anaerobes
  • Motile
  • Grow on non-enriched media; NaCl supplementation required for Vibrio species
  • Found in salt water


  • Enteric diseases in humans
  • Vibrio metschnikovii causes enteric disease in chickens
  • Listonella anguillarum skin lesions and septicaemia in fish and eels


Diagnosis

  • Isolation and identification from lesions
  • Widespread in environments


Treatment

  • Antibiotics including Gentamicin against Vibrio species