Oral Infection Caused by Non-O1/Non-O139 Vibrio cholerae in a Patient with Esophageal Cancer Undergoing Esophagectomy and Chemoradiotherapy: A Case Report

Non-O1/non-O139 Vibrio cholerae (NOVC) are increasingly being recognized as causes of sporadic cases of gastroenteritis and extra-intestinal invasive infections, such as bacteremia as well as skin and wound infections in immunosuppressed hosts. However, oral infections caused by these microorganisms have rarely been reported. We present a case of oral infection caused by NOVC in a patient undergoing chemoradiotherapy after esophagectomy for esophageal cancer. The patient recovered well after antibiotic treatment. The isolate from the patient was screened for phenotypic and genetic characteristics with reference to their major virulence genes. Our report provides supporting evidence for oral infection due to NOVC in a patient with esophageal cancer and suggests that some putative accessory virulence factors may be crucial in the pathogenicity of this strain. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first documented case of oral infection due to NOVC.