Objective To identify and detect the diarrheagenic virulence genes of Aeromonas hydrophila in ready-to-eat seafood sold in Macao.Methods Aeromonas hydrophila were isolated from 80 ready-to-eat seafood samples of crustaceans， fish， shellfish and cephalopods. And they were identified by real-time polymerase chain reaction based on 16S rRNA gene. Multiplex polymerase chain reaction was used to determine the diarrheagenic virulence genes in the isolated strains.Results Fifty seven of the 80 samples （71.25%） were positive with Aeromonas hydrophila. Among the positive samples， 6 of the samples （10.53%） were detected with diarrheagenic toxic genes. Among 6 strains which carried toxic genes， 4 strains carried 2 toxic genes and 2 strains carried only 1 toxic gene. Four strains carried alt （7.02%）， followed by 3 strains with aerA （5.36%）， 2 strains with ast （3.51%）， and only 1 strain with act （1.75%）. After Chi-square test and analysis， there was no direct relationship between the detection rate and 4 types of ready-to-eat seafood（P>0.05）. In addition， 13 strains of Aeromonas hydrophila were isolated from 15 cooked samples.Conclusion The high isolation rate of Aeromonas hydrophila may be due to contamination caused by improper packaging， transport and processing. The detection of toxic genes was low， but the risk cannot be ignored and integrated monitoring based on food chain is important.