Saving Seafood

Nanoparticles promise swift Vibrio control for safer seafood and healthier fish

November 18, 2025 — Vibrio bacteria are major pathogens in the aquaculture industry, triggering vibriosis—a disease that can cause mortality rates of up to 90% within two days. This not only results in billions of dollars in economic losses globally but also poses a threat to food safety through contaminated aquatic products. Conventional detection methods for Vibrio require three to five days to yield results, and they often involve additional sterilization steps, making it nearly impossible to promptly control the spread of Vibrio infections.

To address this challenge, a research team led by Prof. Chen Lingxin from the Yantai Institute of Coastal Zone Research of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, has developed edged-satellite AuAg nanoparticles (ES-AuAgNPs). These nanoparticles (NPs) boast several characteristics, including alloyed Ag/Au composition, an edge-satellite structural design, and integrated antimicrobial components.

Collectively, these properties equip ES-AuAgNPs with enhanced peroxidase (POD)-like , surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) performance, and antibacterial capabilities. This study was recently published in Advanced Science.

Read the full article at PHYS.org

LOUISIANA: Vibrio cases rise in Louisiana

September 2, 2025 — There have been more illnesses and deaths from Vibrio vulnificus, a flesh-eating bacteria, this year than in previous years in the Southern U.S. state of Louisiana.

The Louisiana Department of Health is urging residents to take precautions to prevent infection from the bacteria, which can cause illness when an open wound is exposed to coastal waters or when a person eats raw or undercooked seafood, particularly oysters.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

Study finds climate change, antimicrobial resistance increasing prevalence of vibrio in seafood

July 23, 2024 — A recently released study has determined that the prevalence of vibrio bacteria in seafood will increase globally due to climate change and antimicrobial resistance.

The study, performed by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), carried out an assessment of the public health aspects of vibrio related to the consumption of seafood products. Vibrio, which includes the species Vibrio vulnificus, Vibrio parahaemolyticus, and Vibrio cholerae, is a waterborne bacteria which can cause gastroenteritis or severe infections when consumed via raw or undercooked seafood or shellfish.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

Washington Hit With Historic Number of Vibrio Infections Following Major Heatwave

July 21, 2021 — The Washington Department of Health (DOH) linked the recent heatwave that left millions of shellfish dead to the historic number of vibrio cases the state has reported in July.

The state said the high temperatures and low tides of late could be the reason behind the increased rate of the disease that is related to consuming raw or undercooked shellfish. Particularly oysters contaminated with Vibrio.

Read the full story at Seafood News

A Bacteria That Thrives In Warmer Waters Keeps Mass. Oyster Fisheries On High Alert

August 31, 2017 — Massachusetts loves its local oysters from places like Wellfleet and Duxbury. The state’s bivalve business is booming along with increased consumer demand. These days there’s no shortage of $1 oyster specials and oyster-centric restaurants around here.

But the ways oysters are harvested and handled have become more involved and challenging since 2013. That’s when bacteria linked to warming waters appeared in our marshes for the first time.

The result was an outbreak of gastrointestinal illness caused by Vibrio Parahaemolyticus — Vp or Vibrio for short. (To be clear, this is different from norovirus, which led to a closure of shellfish beds in Wellfleet last year.)

In response to the Vp bacteria’s emergence in New England, the state implemented a Vibrio Control Plan. Here’s how those state efforts to control bacterial infection have been affecting people in the oyster industry.

‘The Waters Are Warmer Than They Used To Be’

At Select Oyster Bar in Boston, you can find a rotating selection of Massachusetts oysters on-the-half-shell — Moon Shoal petites from Kingston, Ichabods from Plymouth and Wellfleet Puffers.

For about a dozen years Select’s chef-owner Michael Serpa has been serving mollusks in Boston establishments, including the cult-favorite Neptune Oysters in the North End. “I’ve seen a lot of oysters,” he told me, smiling.

Read and listen to the full story at WBUR