Event recap
Vibrio Symposium
The EPI gathered experts to lead discussions on the public health implications, environmental impact and response to Vibrio bacteria. Talks included special guests from Japan and Thailand.
Vibrio is a genus of Gram-negative bacteria that contains several species known to cause vibriosis, an infection characterized by foodborne iilness or soft-tissue infection. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Vibrio parahaemolyticus, Vibrio vulnificus and Vibrio alginolyticus are the three species most common in causing human illness in the United States, with the country seeing an estimated 80,000 cases of vibriosis each year. Vibrio cholerae is another specius in the genus that causes cholera, a bacterial disease that spreads through contaminated food and water. Researchers report approximately 1.3 to 4 million cases of cholera every year, according to the World Health Organization.
EPI Members on Vibrio
Research News
Vibrio vulnificus in Florida: the flesh-eating bacteria you may have heard about
Vibrio vulnificus is often transmitted when someone with an open wound enters brackish water. The infection can lead to necrotizing fasciitis, a condition where the flesh around the wound dies. People may also ingest Vibrio vulnificus by eating contaminated seafood like raw oysters – consequently experiencing vomiting, diarrhea and stomach pain – which may also ultimately lead to a systemic infection of the skin.
Research News
Cholera bacteria colonize Haitian rivers, evolve
UF researchers with the Emerging Pathogens Institute have uncovered the first-ever evidence for cholera bacteria establishing in a natural water environment outside the Bay of Bengal in the northern Indian Ocean. The bacteria are also adaptively evolving within their new aquatic habitat, the researchers reported Monday in the journal PNAS. While cholera is thought of as an age-old human disease of poverty, the bacteria that cause it — toxigenic Vibrio cholerae — are able to persist in natural water systems for extended periods of time.
Event Recording
Meet the Speakers
University of Florida
Carla Mavian, Ph.D.
Carla Mavian, Ph.D., is an assistant professor at the University of Florida College of Medicine. Her research program supports cross-disciplinary approaches to the study of infectious diseases. Her area of research is infectious diseases, with emphasis on molecular evolution and host-pathogen interactions. Her research spans from large-scale epidemic processes, such as population growth and spatial epidemic dispersal, to small-scale transmission histories; and within-host evolution, including adaptation and recombination.
Osaka University
Tetsuya Iida, Ph.D.
Tetsuya Iida, Ph.D., is a SA Professor at Osaka University. He works within the International Research Center for Infectious Diseases in Research Institute for Microbial Diseases.
Chulalongkorn University
Chonchanok Muangnapoh, Ph.D.
Chonchanok Muangnapoh, Ph.D., is an assistant professor at Chulalongkorn University, located in Thailand. She has a research interest in genetic diversity and molecular typing of foodborne pathogenic bacteria, as well as in the molecular epidemiology of vibrio parahaemolyticus. In addition, she explores the risk of potentially pathogenic bacteria in marine microplastics.
Osaka University
Yuki Matsumoto, M.D., Ph.D.
Yuki Matsumoto, M.D., Ph.D., is a specially appointed assistant professor at Osaka University. He is proficient in the rapid identification of pathogenic bacteria, having made notable contributions to the development of databases and identification software, particularly for non-tuberculous mycobacteria. He possess extensive knowledge and experience in various next-generation sequencing technologies and the corresponding data analysis techniques. Recently, he has been exploring the capabilities of the MinION sequencer, harnessing its distinctive features for real-time analysis and long-read sequences.
University of Florida
Eric Nelson, M.D., Ph.D.
Eric Nelson, M.D., Ph.D., is an associate professor at the University of Florida College of Public Health and Health Professions. He also serves as a pediatric hospitalist and sees patients at UF Health Shands Children's Hospital. His main areas of research interest include emergency medicine, cholera and pediatric telemedicine.
University of Florida
Adam Wong, Ph.D.
Adam Wong, Ph.D., is an assistant professor at the University of Florida College of Agricultural and Life Sciences. His program’s central focus is understanding how host-microbe interactions drive phenotypic diversity, spanning the areas of symbiosis, pathogenesis, nutrition and behavior. A major theme is to integrate omics, molecular and ecological approaches to better understand how the gut microbiome modulates insect behavioral and physiological responses to changing environments and the virulence mechanisms of gut pathogens.
University of Florida
Antar Jutla, Ph.D.
Antar Jutla, Ph.D., is an environmental engineering sciences associate professor at the University of Florida Herbert Wertheim College of Engineering. The central theme of his research is to understand the role of humans in the hydrological cycle or, in other words, the coupling between natural and human systems. Within this context, the bulk of his research has focused on quantifying the influence of weather, climatic and environmental processes on the abundance and presence of infectious pathogens and, after that, predicting the risk of the outbreak of water-related diseases in the human population.