Seafood and their environment (seawater) constitute a major risk of foodborne diseases that are related to Vibrio species whose repercussions may become sometimes serious and fatal for the consumer. Two hundred samples of seafood (170 shrimp, 20 mussels, 10 crabs) from the regions of Jijel, Colo., Skikda, Annaba and El Kala have been subjected to a double enrichment in NaCl 1% and 5% followed by an isolation on TCBS agar and a biochemical identification on API20E biochemical galleries. Vibrio alginolyticus was isolated in a sample of shrimp taken from the region of Skikda in May (0.6% of the samples). No Vibrio has been detected in other matrices. Other species of bacteria, also dangerous to public health, were isolated on the TCBS agar from 37.2% of the shrimp samples, 75% of the mussel samples and seven seawater samples. These bacteria are, in decreasing order: Citrobacter freundii, Boulkharderia pseudomallei, Aeromonas hydrophila, Proteus vulgaris and Staphylococcus spp. Our study shows results similar to those published in Croatia, Netherlands, Italy, Germany and Morocco, but higher than of Belgium where no Vibrio has been isolated from seafood. This leads us to recommend the development of research methods and more appropriate preventive measures to minimize the risk of biological contamination in seafood.
