[The first case of Vibrio cholerae 0139 in Denmark]

We report the first case of V. cholerae O139 in Denmark. In 1994, a 61-year-old Vietnamese woman was admitted to Aalborg Hospital, Denmark due to severe diarrhoea. The diagnosis was confirmed by biochemical characterization and agglutination in O139 antiserum of a strain isolated from a stool specimen. The woman had stayed in Denmark after family reunion for nine months and had not travelled outside the country. She had not eaten any foods imported from Southeast Asia. The V. cholerae O139 isolate had similar antibiotic susceptibility pattern and contained genes encoding a virulence gene cassette previously identified in O139 isolates from Southeast Asia. Ribotyping showed a banding pattern similar to patterns exhibited by O139 isolates from Bangladesh, India and Thailand. However, the exact mode of transmission of this first Danish case of V. cholerae O139 infection was not determined.