[Experimental study on the survival of Vibrio cholerae (El-Tor biotype) in sea-water]

Experimental studies on survival of Vibrio cholerae in untreated sea-water reveal that they remain alive at least one week. A somewhat longer survival (up to 3 weeks) could be observed if these bacteria were kept in sea-water sterilized by filtration. But if sea-water is autoclaved, cholera vibrios may keep their vitality for periods at least 6 months. Our observations lead to the conclusion that untreated sea-water may contains some filtrable thermolabile factor killing cholera vibrios. Yet these facts should not create false feelings of security. It is known, from recent epidemiological data that sea-medium as a whole may be the origin of cholera outbreak.