A risk assessment for the pathogen-commodity pair of V. vulnificus in raw oysters was
proposed by the European Community in the 33rd session of the Codex Committee on Food
Hygiene (CCFH) (CAC, 2000). There have been at least two previous risk assessments on
V. vulnificus. McCoubrey (1996) reported on the risk of V. vulnificus infection following
consumption of raw commercially harvested North Island oysters from New Zealand in 1996.
The report concluded that environmental conditions, especially high salinities, were not
suitable for V. vulnificus survival. The European Commission’s Scientific Committee on
Veterinary Measures relating to Public Health has prepared a document on V. vulnificus and
V. parahaemolyticus in raw and undercooked seafood (Scientific Committee on Veterinary
Measures relating to Public Health, 2001). This work followed the general format of a risk
assessment and noted variations in V. vulnificus prevalence on a global scale. However,
neither of the above risk assessments was quantitative. In order to address the risk associated
with V. vulnificus in a quantitative manner, within the framework of the FAO/WHO risk
assessment on Vibrio spp. in seafood, it was decided to extend the V. parahaemolyticus
models described in the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) Draft Risk
Assessment on the Public Health Impacts of V. parahaemolyticus in Raw Molluscan Shellfish
(“FDA-VPRA”) (FDA, 2001) and the Joint FAO/WHO Risk Assessment of
V. parahaemolyticus in Raw Oysters (“FAO/WHO-VPRA”) (FAO/WHO, in press) to
V. vulnificus. The general approach proposed and many of the parameters used in the present
V. vulnificus risk assessment are the same as those used in the FDA-VPRA and FAO/WHOVPRA.
1.1. Scope