Related Experiment Video
Updated: Mar 29, 2026

Laboratory Techniques Used to Maintain and Differentiate Biotypes of Vibrio cholerae Clinical and Environmental Isolates
Published on: May 30, 2017
Comparative Characterization of Vibrio cholerae O1 from Five Sub-Saharan African Countries Using Various Phenotypic
Anthony M Smith1,2, Berthe-Marie Njanpop-Lafourcade3, Martin A Mengel3
1Centre for Enteric Diseases, National Institute for Communicable Diseases, Division in the National Health Laboratory Service (NHLS), Johannesburg, South Africa.
Abstract:
We used standardized methodologies to characterize Vibrio cholerae O1 isolates from Guinea, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Togo, Côte d'Ivoire and Mozambique. We investigated 257 human isolates collected in 2010 to 2013. DRC isolates serotyped O1 Inaba, while isolates from other countries serotyped O1 Ogawa. All isolates were biotype El Tor and positive for cholera toxin. All isolates showed multidrug resistance but lacked ciprofloxacin resistance. Antimicrobial susceptibility profiles of isolates varied between countries. In particular, the susceptibility profile of isolates from Mozambique (East-Africa) included resistance to ceftriaxone and was distinctly different to the susceptibility profiles of isolates from countries located in West- and Central-Africa. Molecular subtyping of isolates using pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) analysis showed a complex relationship among isolates. Some PFGE patterns were unique to particular countries and clustered by country; while other PFGE patterns were shared by isolates from multiple countries, indicating that the same genetic lineage is present in multiple countries. Our data add to a better understanding of cholera epidemiology in Africa.
More Related Videos
Related Concept Videos
Cholera
Bacterial Gastroenteritis
Colonisation of Pathogens
Stringent Response in E. coli
Diversity of Protists IV
Other Unique Bacteria

