Science. Haiti's Outbreak Is Latest in Cholera's New Global Assault

[Giuseppe]

Haiti's Outbreak Is Latest in Cholera's New Global Assault -- Enserink 330 (6005): 738 (Science, summary, edited)


[Source: Science, full text: <cite cite="http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/summary/330/6005/738">Haiti's Outbreak Is Latest in Cholera's New Global Assault -- Enserink 330 (6005): 738 -- Science</cite>. Summary, edited.]

Science 5 November 2010: Vol. 330. no. 6005, pp. 738 - 739
DOI: 10.1126/science.330.6005.738

Infectious Diseases:

Haiti's Outbreak Is Latest in Cholera's New Global Assault

Martin Enserink


After a deadly surprise outbreak of cholera began in Haiti 2 weeks ago, angry Haitian protesters held peacekeepers from Nepal?a country where the disease is endemic?responsible for bringing Vibrio cholerae to their already ravaged country. But some scientists pointed out that although Haiti had never reported the disease before, V. cholerae is ubiquitous in aquatic environments; given the right circumstances, its numbers can swell dramatically and trigger an outbreak. On Monday, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention rendered its verdict: DNA fingerprinting of the microbes from 13 patients had shown that it was most similar to strains from South Asia, according to a press release, suggesting that that's where the disease was imported from.

(...)
-
------

[Emily]

Re: Science. Haiti's Outbreak Is Latest in Cholera's New Global Assault

http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/t...ame-from-asia/

Tests confirm Haiti cholera came from Asia

09 Dec 2010

Source: reuters // Reuters

[snip]

"Writing in the New England Journal of Medicine, Harvard's Dr. John Mekalanos and colleagues said they also confirmed that Haiti's cholera strain carries a mutation associated with causing more severe disease.

"Our genome data puts the Haiti strain in the group that is the worst of the worst," Mekalanos said."
[snip]