Occurrence and distribution of Vibrio cholerae in the coastal environment of Peru

doi:10.1111/j.1462-2920.2004.00601.x

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Wiley InterScience

Environmental Microbiology

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Environmental Microbiology Reports

Volume 6 Issue 7, Pages 699 - 706

Published Online: 30 Apr 2004

Published jointly with the Society for Applied Microbiology

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Occurrence and distribution of Vibrio cholerae in the coastal environment of Peru

Ana I. Gil ¹ , Valérie R. Louis ² , Irma N. G. Rivera ^2† , Erin Lipp ^2‡ , Anwar Huq ² , Claudio F. Lanata ¹ , David N. Taylor ^3§ , Estelle Russek-Cohen ⁴ , Nipa Choopun ² , R. Bradley Sack ⁵ and Rita R. Colwell ^2,6 *

¹ Instituto de Investigación Nutricional (IIN), Av. La Universidad 685, La Molina, Lima 18, Peru.
² Center of Marine Biotechnology, University of Maryland Biotechnology Institute, 701 E. Pratt Street, Suite 236, Baltimore, MD 21202, USA.
³ NAMRID, Naval Medical Research Center Detachment Unit 3800, Centro Medico Naval, Lima, Peru.
⁴ Department of Animal Science, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, USA.
⁵ Johns Hopkins University, Department of International Health, Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA.
⁶ Institute for Advanced Computer Sciences, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, USA.

Correspondence to *the Center of Marine Biotechnology. E-mail colwell@umbi.umd.edu; Tel. (+1) 301 405 9550; Fax (+1) 301 314 6654.

^† Microbiology Department, ICB-USP, 1374, Lineu Prestes Avenue – Edif. ICB II, University of São Paulo, CEP 05508-900, São Paulo, SP, Brazil. ^‡ Department of Environmental Health Science, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602, USA. ^§ Vaccine Testing Unit, Department of International Health, Johns Hopkins University, Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA.

Summary

The occurrence and distribution of Vibrio cholerae in sea water and plankton along the coast of Peru were studied from October 1997 to June 2000, and included the 1997–98 El Niño event. Samples were collected at four sites in coastal waters off Peru at monthly intervals. Of 178 samples collected and tested, V. cholerae O1 was cultured from 10 (5.6%) samples, and V. cholerae O1 was detected by direct fluorescent antibody assay in 26 out of 159 samples tested (16.4%). Based on the number of cholera cases reported in Peru from 1997 to 2000, a significant correlation was observed between cholera incidence and elevated sea surface temperature (SST) along the coast of Peru (P < 0.001). From the results of this study, coastal sea water and zooplankton are concluded to be a reservoir for V. cholerae in Peru. The climate–cholera relationship observed for the 1997–98 El Niño year suggests that an early warning system for cholera risk can be established for Peru and neighbouring Latin American countries.

Received 27 August, 2003; revised 12 January, 2004; accepted 12 January, 2004.

DIGITAL OBJECT IDENTIFIER (DOI)

10.1111/j.1462-2920.2004.00601.x About DOI