Expert Review: EFSA’s 2024 Article on Vibrio Bacteria in Seafood – Rising Risks from Climate Change and Antimicrobial Resistance

At Precision Analysis — A Tentamus Company, our Microbiological Expert, Fiona Croft, with the support of Rob Fox, has gathered data to reflect on EFSA’s findings, providing deeper insights into the potential impact on food safety.

An article published by the European Food Safety Authority in July 2024 has suggested that the number of cases of illness caused by Vibrio species has significantly increased over the last several years. This is thought to be as a result of global warming and antibiotic resistance.

A review of the data obtained by Precision Analysis since 2020 has shown that the number of samples tested for Vibrio species has increased as has the number of samples that have tested positive for Vibrio species (see the table below):

Further analysis of the Vibrio species isolated has shown that the number of different species isolated has also increased (see the table below).

Whilst the data in the tables supports the findings of the article by the European Food Safety Authority, particularly with the significant increase in the number of samples that have been analysed for Vibrio species since 2022, it should be noted that the Precision Analysis data has been obtained from a single sample source. Analysis of a broader range of samples may yield a different sample number to positive isolate ratio. Also, the data from Precision Analysis corresponds with the findings published by the European Food Safety Authority, in that the most common species isolated is V. parahaemolyticus.