Vibrio cholerae - A Review

Vibrio cholerae is a facultative anaerobic, Gram negative, non-spore forming curved rod, about 1.04-1.06 mu m long. It is a facultative human pathogen found in coastal waters that causes the acute gastrointestinal disease, cholera, a major health threat in poor nations. It is widely acknowledged as one of the most important water borne pathogen of worldwide economic significance. Sea foods and water is the most common vehicle for this infection in humans. It has been isolated from wide variety of samples such as seawater, sediments, plankton, finfish and shellfishes of coastal and estuarine environments. Cholera pathogenesis is a complex process and involves synergistic action of several genes. CT is considered the most important epidemic marker among various toxins produced by V. cholerae. Detection of V. cholerae from food stuffs is problematic, since they are present at low level together with large number of competing microflora and also they may be injured by different food processing methods.