Population Structure, Novel Sequence Types, and Antimicrobial Resistance in Vibrio parahaemolyticus and Vibrio vulnificus: A Whole Genome Sequencing Study of Clinical and Seafood Isolates in New Jersey

The study examined genomic diversity and antimicrobial resistance of Vibrio parahaemolyticus and Vibrio vulnificus bacteria collected from clinical cases and seafood sources in New Jersey from June 2016 to November 2024. A total of 465 Vibrio sequences were analyzed, including 406 from seafood sources and 59 from clinical cases. The analysis identified 300 V. parahaemolyticus isolates and 165 V. vulnificus isolates. Multi-locus sequence typing revealed 169 known sequence types and 162 novel sequence types (49 in V. parahaemolyticus and 113 in V. vulnificus). The tetracycline resistance gene tet(34) was present in nearly all isolates. Beta-lactamase genes were detected in almost all V. parahaemolyticus sequences but were absent in V. vulnificus. This study provides the first comprehensive analysis of genomic diversity and antimicrobial resistance profiles of these pathogens in New Jersey.