Ocean swimming {50000122}

- Vibrio species -- only identified to the genus level -- were detected on every participant after swimming in the ocean, and air drying," (The Vibrio genus includes the bacterium that causes cholera.)
- At six hours post swim, they were still present on most of the volunteers, but by 24 hours, they were present only on one individual.
- While many Vibrio are not pathogenic, the fact that we recovered them on the skin after swimming demonstrates that pathogenic Vibrio species could potentially persist on the skin after swimming,.
- The fraction of Vibrio species detected on human skin was more than 10 times greater than the fraction in the ocean water sample, suggesting a specific affinity for attachment to human skin. (1)