Control of Vibrio parahaemolyticus in the White shrimp Litopenaeus vannamei by phage therapy

Vibrio parahaemolyticus is considered the principal cause of gastroenteritis by seafood consumption in humans and was associated with vibriosis in marine organisms (Gopal et al, 2005). Its effects are more evident in aquaculture where serious economical losses are attributed to these bacteria. Antibiotic therapy was the common strategy to control their negative effects; however, since bacterial antibiotic-resistance became a major problem, it was necessary to develop alternative therapies (Alagappan et al, 2010). Phage therapy is a potential alternative to control the effects of pathogenic bacteria, which is based in the ability of phages to kill bacteria. Apparently, their use does not mean the adverse effects of antibiotics, such as the selection of resistance mechanisms and transference to human pathogens. Phage therapy has already been used successfully to treat bacterial infections in fish and other aquatic organisms (Park et al, 2000, Vinod et al, 2006). In the present study we evaluated the therapeutic use of two lytic V. parahemolyticus bacteriophages during experimental infections of Litopenaeus vannamei larvae.