Combined TCBS and CHROMagar Analyses Allow for Basic Identification of Vibrio vulnificus within a 48 h Incubation Period in the Coastal Baltic Sea

With rising infection rates in recent years, poses an increasing threat to public safety in the coastal brackish Baltic Sea. It is therefore important to monitor this organism and assess the infection risk on a more regular basis. However, as the coastline of the Baltic Sea is 8000 km long and shared by nine nations, a convenient, fast, inexpensive, yet efficient identification method is essential. We evaluated the effectiveness of a two-step agar-based approach consisting of successive isolation and cultivation on thiosulphate-citrate-bile salt sucrose (TCBS) agar and CHROMagar™ for in comparison with , , and . Our study contains isolates from water and sediment across a broad expanse of the Baltic Sea including 13 locations and two different summers, the time of year during which infections are usually much more frequent. Confirmation of isolate species identity was carried out using molecular analyses. The two-step agar plating method performed well across different locations and timeframes in correctly identifying by more than 80%, but the sensitivity in other species varied. Thus, our approach yielded promising results as a potential tool for early detection across a broad timeframe and transect of the Baltic Sea and potentially other brackish environments.