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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Vibrio vulnificus is a bacterium which is naturally occurring, opportunistic and ubiquitous in the environment. It is commonly found in oysters grown in the Gulf States, particularly during warm weather months. Vibrio vulnificus can be a pathogen when transmitted through consumption of raw oysters. The risk of contracting this disease is virtually non-existent for healthy individuals, and very low even for those individuals most susceptible to this disease. For those high risk individuals who contract oyster borne vibrionosis; the death rate, however, is high. It is the mortality rate among Vibrio vulnificus infected individuals that has caused concern, not the very low incidence rate.The Interstate Shellfish Sanitation Conference (ISSC) is a group comprised of federal and state regulators working with the molluscan shellfish industry to establish appropriate rules and guidelines for the sanitary control of oysters, clams and mussels sold for human consumption. In August 1999, the ISSC created a Vibrio Risk Management Committee that was tasked with the development of a plan to reduce the number of cases and deaths associated annually with Vibrio vulnificus disease. In July 2000, the Committee provided a suggested plan to the ISSC for adoption at ISSC's Annual Meeting held in Phoenix, Arizona.
Although the ISSC failed to adopt the proposed Vibrio Risk Management Plan, implementation of certain components of the proposed plan are proceeding. The most significant progress is occurring in efforts to educate the at-risk consumer. The shellfish industry has committed to working vigorously with the states and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to implement the educational component of the proposed Vibrio Risk Management Plan now rather than waiting until the plan is finalized next year.
In order to measure the success of all efforts directed toward the reduction of the number of cases of Vibrio vulnificus disease occurring annually, the industry believed that it was necessary to establish a baseline against which progress could be measured. Therefore, the Gulf Oyster Industry Council commissioned a survey of the Gulf States to establish this baseline. The shellfish control agencies in the states of Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas were surveyed to determine what control measures directed at preventing Vibrio vulnificus disease transmission were in place in these states, and what was the status of public education intervention programs addressing Vibrio vulnificus disease.
All Gulf States were found to have control measures in place. Some states had implemented more stringent controls than those recommended by the ISSC. The most significant differences among the states occurred in their approach to education of the at-risk consumers.