Vibrio cholerae is a waterborne pathogen and a leading cause of food-borne infections.
We highlight some information about this pathogen that you may not be aware of.
Can endure for weeks
The Vibrio cholerae bacterium can survive for up to two weeks in water, several days in food at room temperature, and longer when food is refrigerated or frozen. Refrigeration prevents cholera organism multiplication but prolongs its survival. V cholerae, unlike other bacteria, cannot survive at 4°C for extended periods of time.
The only known hosts are humans.
The only natural host for Vibrio cholerae is humans, and transmission occurs via the fecal-oral route. However, the bacterium is also found as a free-living organism in brackish water and can survive in both freshwater and saltwater, which explains why shellfish are occasionally the source of infection.
Low temperatures in food favor bacterial survival.
Low temperatures favor the survival of vibrio cholerae in food, particularly rice. Food should be thoroughly cooked to at least 70°C and consumed while still hot. Food that has been contaminated during or after cooking or preparation and left at room temperature for several hours provides an ideal environment for bacterial growth.
The bacterium is effectively rendered inactive by chlorine.
Under the right circumstances, chlorine is effective against vibrio cholerae.
Chlorine is an effective means of eliminating various waterborne pathogens that have the potential to cause diseases such as typhoid fever, dysentery, cholera, and Legionnaires’ disease.
This bacterium is completely destroyed by boiling water.
According to research, boiling water kills or renders inactive pathogens. The bacterium that causes cholera can therefore be killed by boiling water. However, once the water begins to boil, you should continue to boil it for an additional one to three minutes to ensure its safety.
Vibrio cholerae does not tolerate acid
Bacterium is an extremely acid-sensitive pathogen. It cannot survive in an acidic environment. Because the normal gastric pH in humans acts as a barrier to disease, even ordinary stomach acid frequently acts as a defense against infection. Children, the elderly, and those who take antacids, H-2 blockers, or proton pump inhibitors lack this protection, making them more susceptible to infection. Food also functions as an acid buffer.
Not all individuals who come into contact with it become ill.
The majority of people exposed to this bacterium do not become ill and are unaware of their infection because it is shed in their stool for seven to fourteen days. However, they are still capable of infecting others via contaminated water.
This bacterium has acquired antibiotic resistance.
In different parts of Africa, Vibrio cholerae strains have been detected for a long time, and during recent outbreaks, new strains with different resistance characteristics have appeared.
More than 99 percent of recent vibrio cholerae isolates are multidrug resistant, and their genome is enriched with acquired genetic elements, according to a study published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), a US peer review journal.
Antimicrobial drugs such as Sulfamethoxazole/trimethoprim, nalidixic acid, erythromycin, and chloramphenicol are no longer effective against the strains.
The cholera toxin is not produced by all vibrio cholerae.
Although vibrio cholerae is the causative agent of cholera, it is important to note that only a small percentage of it is capable of producing the cholera toxin, which causes the clinical symptom of acute diarrhoea, also known as “rice water” stool. There are hundreds of serogroups, including pathogenic and nonpathogenic strains. Nonepidemic strains of Vibrio cholerae have previously been known as non-O1 Vcholerae, nonagglutinable (NAG) Vibrio, and noncholera Vibrio. While the majority of these environmental, nonepidemic strains appear to be nonpathogenic for humans, some have been linked to human disease.
It can withstand salt.
Since the bacterium is transmitted through contaminated drinking water or food, the general consensus is that it thrives well in fresh water. Its primary habitat is the marine ecosystem, and it is a saltwater organism. It requires salt for growth and is found in aquatic environments naturally.
