Pulsed-field gel electrophoresis typing of multidrug-resistant Vibrio parahaemolyticus isolated from various sources of seafood

Vibrio parahaemolyticus (V. parahaemolyticus), one of the most important foodborne pathogens in many maritime Asian countries, is frequently associated with the consumption of seafood. Thirty eight strains of V. parahaemolyticus were isolated from seafood in Hebei province of China. Resistance to 13 antibiotics was determined using broth microdilution methods. These strains were typed by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) technique with short pre-processing following SfiI digestion and a typing scheme was generated. The 38 strains were grouped into 5 types with 71% pattern similarity. All the type E were isolated from Shijiazhuang, Baoding and Langfang and simultaneously resistant to ampicillin, sulfisoxazole, streptonigrin and vancomycin, suggesting a clonal relationship between these strains. The data of antimicrobial susceptibility test and PFGE profiles in this study showed a good correlation among antimicrobial susceptibility test, PFGE profiles and geographic distribution.