Pre-earthquake non-epidemic Vibrio cholerae in Haiti

Abstract

Introduction: To our knowledge, there was no record of Vibrio cholerae in Haiti until the 2010 post earthquake outbreak. Methodology: This study describes the analysis of 301 stool samples from 117 infants in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, who participated in a pediatric nutrition study between July 2008 and October 2009. Results: Nine samples were identified positive with both SYBR Green and Taqman-MGB probe based molecular assays targeting V. cholerae hlyA and toxR, respectively (Ct = 33 - 40), but none were O1 or O139. Conclusions: Our results from multiple molecular assays demonstrate the presence of non-O1/O139 V. cholerae DNA in stools collected from nine asymptomatic Haitian infants two years prior to the 2010 earthquake. © 2014 Liu et al.