The Isolation of Vibrio cholera and Other Enteric Bacteria with Molecular Characterization of Vibrio cholera during the Outbreak of Baghdad/Iraq in 2015

Abstract

Vibrio cholera, causing acute watery diarrhea known as cholera disease, affects all ages and both genders. Cholera infection outbreaks in Iraq have been reported for several years. The recent cholera outbreak, emerged throughout 2015, was investigated using bacteriological laboratory tests, singleplex and multiplex PCR technique for the detection of V. cholera from stool samples. Furthermore the toxigenic potential coupled with the antibiotic susceptibility test for cholera and other bacteria were also investigated. The stool samples were collected from 5698 patients admitted to Al-Yarmouk Teaching hospital and health care centers in Baghdad/Al-Karkh, Iraq, from the 1st of August to the 30th of December 2015. The V. cholera was isolated from 194 cases (3.4% of the cases age between 21 - 50 years). In addition, other enteric infections: Salmonellosis and Shigellosis 7 and 21 respectively, protozoan parasite Giardia lamblia and Entamoeba histolytica 2 and 43 cases respectively were also reported. High percentage of V. cholera infection was detected in October (122 cases, 62.8%), compared with other enteric infections that show high percentage of diarrheal disease in September and November. The results have confirmed that the cholera outbreak was caused by V. cholera O1, biotype El Tor, and serotype Inaba. Seven virulence genes were identified ctxA, toxR, zot, ace, rfbO1, tcpA and ompW. Moreover, the cholera isolated strains were found sensitive to most antibiotic but resistant to nalidixic acid.