shows the proportion of isolateswith virulent (rrnB/vcgC), less
virulent (rrnA/vcgE or rrnAB/vcgE), and “other” genotypes for the Gulf
(panel A) and Atlantic (panel B) Coasts across the seasons. Although
low levels of V. vulnificus were observed in samples from the Pacific
Coast, therewere too fewisolates recovered tomake statistical comparisons,
so seasonal and regional distributionswere examined only for the
isolates from Gulf and Atlantic Coast oyster samples. Additionally, no
isolates were recovered from the Atlantic Coast samples from Feb to
Mar.