Vibrios are gramnegative, rodshaped bacteria that occur naturally in estuarine or marine
environments. Roughly a dozen species are known to cause disease in humans , accounting
for an estimated 80,000 illnesses, 500 hospitalizations and 100 deaths each year in the United
States .
Infection is usually from exposure to seawater or consumption of raw or undercooked seafood
Vibriosis is characterized by diarrhea, primary septicemia, wound infections, or
other extraintestinal infections . Infection with pathogenic species of the family
Vibrionaceae can cause two distinct categories of infection: cholera and vibriosis, both of which
are nationally notifiable.
Information on this site focuses on two species that cause vibriosis: Vibrio parahaemolyticus and
Vibrio vulnificus. For information on cholera and it global impact, see CDC’s cholera website
(/cholera/index.html).