Virulence characteristics of sucrose-fermenting Vibrio vulnificus strains.

We identified 6 sucrose-fermenting Vibrio vulnificus strains and examined their virulence characteristics. They were all encapsulated, motile, capable of producing toxins and utilizing transferrin-bound iron, cytotoxic to cultured cells, and virulent enough to kill mice. They could be definitely identified only by genetic identification methods such as PCR, and not by conventional culture-based identification methods such as API 20E (bioMérieux, France). These results indicate that it is essential to adopt genetic approaches as early as possible in order to avoid misdiagnosis of such strains, especially in clinical situations.