WAGATSUMA AGAR BASE

Description

Vibrio species cause intestinal or extra-intestinal human infections. Vibrio parahaemolyticus is a well-demonstrated cause of acute gastroenteritis. Pathogenic strains of V.parahaemolyticus are differentiated from non-pathogenic strains by the ability of the former to produce a thermostable direct haemolysin whose production is termed as Kanagawa phenomenon. The extensive investigation in animal model suggests that Kanagawa haemolysin is the primary virulence factor in V.parahaemolyticus. It has been well established that enteropathogenic V.parahaemolyticus strains are always Kanagawa positive and seafood isolates are almost always Kanagawa negative. Wagatsuma Agar is formulated as described by Wagatsuma and recommended by APHA for the performance of Kanagawa test to identify virulent V.parahaemolyticus strains