[EQ] The Origin of the Haitian Cholera Outbreak Strain

The Origin of the Haitian Cholera Outbreak Strain

Chen-Shan Chin, Jon Sorenson, Jason B. Harris, William P. Robins, Richelle C. Charles, Roger R. Jean-Charles, James Bullard, Dale R. Webster, Andrew Kasarskis, Paul Peluso, Ellen E. Paxinos, Yoshiharu Yamaichi, Stephen B. Calderwood, John J. Mekalanos, Eric E. Schadt, and Matthew K. Waldor

December 9, 2010 (10.1056/NEJMoa1012928) - The New England Journal of Medicine

Available online at: http://bit.ly/eLpxFp

 

“….Although cholera has been present in Latin America since 1991, it had not been epidemic in Haiti for at least 100 years. Recently, however, there has been a severe outbreak of cholera in Haiti.

 

“…..A comparison of the genomes of two “outbreak” Vibrio cholerae isolates from Haiti with those of other isolates indicate that this outbreak strain is distinct from circulating Latin American isolates and bears striking similarity to recent isolates from South Asia. The epidemic is probably due to the introduction, through human activity, of V. cholerae from a distant geographic source.

Methods

We used third-generation single-molecule real-time DNA sequencing to determine the genome sequences of 2 clinical Vibrio cholerae isolates from the current outbreak in Haiti, 1 strain that caused cholera in Latin America in 1991, and 2 strains isolated in South Asia in 2002 and 2008. Using primary sequence data, we compared the genomes of these 5 strains and a set of previously obtained partial genomic sequences of 23 diverse strains of V. cholerae to assess the likely origin of the cholera outbreak in Haiti.

Results

Both single-nucleotide variations and the presence and structure of hypervariable chromosomal elements indicate that there is a close relationship between the Haitian isolates and variant V. cholerae El Tor O1 strains isolated in Bangladesh in 2002 and 2008. In contrast, analysis of genomic variation of the Haitian isolates reveals a more distant relationship with circulating South American isolates.

Conclusions

The Haitian epidemic is probably the result of the introduction, through human activity, of a V. cholerae strain from a distant geographic source. (Funded by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.)

perspective

Responding to Cholera in Post-Earthquake Haiti

December 9, 2010 | D.A. Walton and L.C. Ivers
DOI: 10.1056/NEJMp1012997 http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMp1012997

Antibiotics for Both Moderate and Severe Cholera

December 9, 2010 | E.J. Nelson and Others
DOI: 10.1056/NEJMp1013771 http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMp1013771

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