Comment on "Vibrio vulnificus and V. parahaemolyticus necrotising fasciitis in fishermen visiting an estuarine tropical northern Australia location".

We thank Brian Hearne from McArthur River Mining (MRM) for providing a response to our paper. We were careful in our paper not to draw any direct link between mining activities and Vibrio infections, and to avoid naming the Mine. The potential relevance of water heavy metal concentration to Vibrio infection was not the focus of our paper, illustrated by the fact that it is not mentioned in the Abstract. We stated in the Discussion that ‘A link between Vibrio infections and local environmental perturbation is speculative only, but it would appear that altered heavy metal water content in the area could have the potential to affect Vibrio population density...’. We are aware that, as noted in the MRM letter, the local Environmental Protection Agency has acknowledged that the only scientific evidence to date of impact from the mine in the estuarine reaches of the river or in the Gulf is in the immediate vicinity of the loading facility.