Serotypes of Vibrio parahaemolyticus isolates from hydrobiologically dissimilar aquatic environments.

Serological analysis of the O and K antigens was performed on 324 isolates of Vibrio parahaemolyticus obtained from three hydrobiologically dissimilar aquatic environments. Only 50.9% of the strains could be serotyped. The largest number of untypable strains and the lowest serological diversity were observed from the freshwater collection. Three serotypes, O2:K28, O5:K17, and O2:K3, dominated among all biotopes. There appears to be some distinction between serotypes of environmental and clinical origins.