Vibrio cholerae bacteria are typically responsible for the diarrheal illness called cholera. The two types of Vibrio cholerae are Vibrio cholerae Serogroup O1 and Vibrio cholerae Serogroup non-O1. A person can get cholera by drinking water or eating food contaminated with Vibrio cholerae.
An Introduction to Vibrio Cholerae
Vibrio cholerae is a type of bacteria that cause
cholera (an acute, diarrheal illness that can result in severe dehydration and even death within a matter of hours).
Vibrio cholerae are gram-negative rods
(see Pictures of Cholera) that are facultatively anaerobic, which means they can survive either with or without oxygen.
There are two general types of Vibrio cholerae:
- Vibrio cholerae Serogroup O1
- Vibrio cholerae Serogroup non-O1.
Vibrio cholerae Serogroup O1 is the type of
Vibrio cholerae that is most often the
cause of cholera.
Vibrio cholerae Serogroup O139, a
Vibrio cholerae Serogroup non-O1 bacterium, is the other cause of cholera. There are about 70 other species of
Vibrio cholerae Serogroup non-O1; these other species rarely cause
diarrhea.
How Common Is Vibrio Cholerae?
Vibrio cholerae is native to the Ganges delta, which is in India and extends into Bangladesh. Since 1817, there have been seven worldwide
Vibrio cholerae pandemics. There is an ongoing global
pandemic in Asia, Africa, and Latin America that has lasted over four decades. Since 1995, over 80 percent of reported cases of
Vibrio cholerae infections have occurred in Africa.
Vibrio cholerae infections have been very rare in industrialized nations for the last 100 years. In the United States, there are zero to five cases per year.
In 2003, 111,575 cases from 45 countries were reported to the World Health Organization.
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