As ocean temperatures rise, so too will vibrio outbreaks

At Norm Bloom & Son Copps Island Oysters in Connecticut, workers haul farmed oysters from cages. For New England shellfish farmers, the emergence in recent years of a highly virulent non-native strain of VP known as 04:K12 is troubling.

A study using a half-century of data has linked climate change and warming sea temperatures with an increase in illnesses from the common vibrio bacteria. Shellfish growers, fighting a particularly virulent strain of Vibrio parahaemolyticus, are changing their harvest protocols.