Laboratory studies on the El Tor vibrio

The identity of the El Tor vibrio is a controversial question that the usual methods of bacteriological investigation have as yet failed to settle. In this paper, the author presents the results of a study of the interrelationships between El Tor vibrios, true cholera vibrios and water vibrios, as revealed by the behaviour of the vibrios in the bile system and in the small intestine of experimental animals.The vibrios investigated included two strains isolated at the El Tor quarantine station on the Sinai Peninsula in 1934, two strains isolated at Makassar, Celebes, during a cholera epidemic in 1937 and identified as "El Tor" vibrios, four strains of true cholera vibrios and five strains of water vibrios. On the whole, the behaviour of the El Tor and Makassar vibrios was similar, closely resembling that of the cholera vibrios and differing markedly from that of the water vibrios. The author therefore considers that the strains of El Tor and Makassar vibrios examined are varieties of Vibrio cholerae and suggests that carriers of such strains should be subjected to the same measures as carriers of true cholera vibrios.