Magic™ Mouse Anti-V. cholerae O1 (Ogawa & Inaba) monoclonal antibody, clone G136U137

Cholera is an acute intestinal infectious disease. Because it is highly contagious, spreads quickly, and affects a wide range of areas, it can cause epidemics, outbreaks, and pandemics. If an infected person is not treated promptly, they may die from severe dehydration. Research shows that cholera is caused by the bacterium Vibrio cholerae. Vibrio cholerae can be divided into more than 200 serogroups, among which Vibrio cholerae O1 and O139 can cause cholera. Since Vibrio cholerae is a species of the genus Vibrio, it has the general characteristics of the genus Vibrio. Vibrio cholerae can be cultured normally on commonly used laboratory media, but its growth will be affected if the culture medium does not contain Na⁺. Like other Vibrio species, Vibrio cholerae is also very sensitive to desiccation. If the stool sample cannot be plated onto the culture medium within 2 to 4 hours at the time of collection, a special transport medium may be required. In addition to being sensitive to desiccation, V. cholerae is also sensitive to heat and sunlight that cause desiccation. In addition, Vibrio cholerae is also sensitive to chemical disinfectants and acids, but it can tolerate low temperatures and alkali. The daily method of killing Vibrio cholerae can be to use 0.5 mg/L chlorine in water for 15 minutes or boil it at 100°C for 1 to 2 minutes. In addition, soaking vegetables and fruits with 0.1% potassium permanganate can also achieve disinfection purposes.

Figure 1. SEM of Vibrio cholerae O1 (A) and O139 (C). (Source: Chaiyanan S, et al. 2007)

Most infections with V. cholerae group O1 are asymptomatic, and these undetected infections may serve as a persistent source of infection in cholera-endemic areas. Severe cholera causes profuse watery diarrhea with daily fluid loss of up to 200ml/kg of body weight per day. If left untreated, patients can develop failure with severe dehydration, electrolyte imbalances, painful muscle cramps, tearing, loss of skin elasticity, and anuria. The clinical symptoms of Vibrio cholerae O1 group and O139 group are similar. Adults are more susceptible to O139 group infection because previous infection with O1 group cholera has no protective effect on O139 group. Non-O1 and non-O139 Vibrio cholerae rarely produce cholera toxin, and their infections are milder and are mostly related to extraintestinal infections.

Vibrio cholerae can only survive in normal gastric acid for 4 minutes. Patients and carriers are the source of infection of this disease. A typical patient's vomitus and diarrhea contain a lot of bacteria, with 10⁷ to 10⁹ Vibrio bacteria per ml of feces, which plays an important role in the spread of the disease. Mild patients are easily ignored, while healthy carriers are difficult to detect. Both are dangerous sources of infection. Carriers in the incubation period do not have vomiting or diarrhea, and carriers in the recovery period generally do not shed bacteria for a long time. The significance of the two as sources of infection is secondary. Vibrio cholerae can adhere to the surface of marine crustaceans, and the latter secretes chitinase to decompose the shell and use it as nutrition to survive for a long time. Cholera epidemics can occur when contaminated seafood is eaten. Normal gastric acid can kill Vibrio cholerae. When gastric acid secretion is insufficient or low, or the number of invading Vibrio cholerae is large, the unkilled Vibrio bacteria enter the small intestine, multiply rapidly in the alkaline intestinal fluid, and attack the bacteria through the mucus. Due to the chemotactic attraction, bacterial flagellar activity, and Vibrio mucin-lytic enzymes and adhesins, it adheres to the surface of the epithelial cells of the small intestinal mucosa and reproduces in large numbers here. At the same time, a strong exotoxin, namely cholera enterotoxin, is produced, which acts on the intestinal wall to promote extreme secretion of intestinal mucosal cells, causing excessive excretion of water and salt, leading to severe dehydration and collapse, which in turn causes metabolic acidosis and acute renal failure. Some patients may be carriers of bacteria for a short period of time after recovery, generally no more than 3 to 4 weeks, and true chronic carriers are rare.

V. cholerae O1 El Tor
V. cholerae O1 Classical
V. cholerae serogroup O1
Cholera vibrio O1