[Zoonotic bacterium: duty to notify advisable].

Vibrio vulnificus is a zoonotic bacterium that can be found in raw fish (mainly eel and oysters) and seawater. Human infections may extend from wound infections to fasciitis necroticans or primary sepsis with a mortality rate of more than 50%. Although V. vulnificus is mainly found in the USA, its worldwide spread is also likely to involve the Netherlands, as demonstrated by an increasing number of infected fish farms. Since 2007, V. vulnificus infections have become a notifiable infectious disease in the USA. Due to the high mortality rate and an increase in the number of elderly people with known risk factors for infection, we argue that human V. vulnificus infections should become a notifiable infectious disease in the Netherlands as well. This would provide reliable information on the epidemiology and facilitate correct risk assessment for public health.