Etude expérimentale du transfert de Vibrio parahaemolyticus (biotype 2) de l'eau et des sédiments aux organismes des chaînes alimentaires benthiques marines
Transfer of V. parahaemolyticus (biotype 2) from sediments to water and from water to benthic marine organisms was studied experimentally using a streptomycin-resistant strain. Transmission by trophic pathways was also studied using reconstituted marine food chains (Mytilus edulis, Nereis diversicolor, Carcinus maenas, Scorpaena porcus and Mus musculus). Water colonization by sediments could be observed only at temperatures above 16.degree. C. Sediments could well constitute a disseminating reservoir for these germs, their cycle in water being dependent of the cycle followed in the sediments. Contamination of animal organisms is essentially effected by a direct mean, either water or sediments; transfer by trophic pathways being negligible. Infection of land consumers (mice) is linked quantitatively to the nature of the last marine organism of the food chain since bacteria can flourish in the digestive tract of certain animals (C. maenas).