Mosquito-like aquatic insects called chironomids are natural reservoirs of the epidemic and pandemic-causing strains of cholera bacterium, a study by Indian and Israeli researchers has found. Monitoring and controlling the hardy chironomid populations in endemic areas could be used as a tool for predicting and controlling the devastating cholera outbreaks, they said.
Cholera is an acute diarrhoeal infection caused by eating or drinking food or water that is contaminated with the bacterium Vibrio cholerae. It remains a global threat to public health and is an indicator of inequity and lack of social development. It is estimated that there are 1.3 to 4.0 million cases of cholera, and 21, 000 to 1,43,000 deaths worldwide, every year, due to the infection, according to the World Health Organisation.
There are many serogroups of V cholerae, but only two – O1 and O139 – cause outbreaks. V cholerae O1 has caused all recent outbreaks. V cholerae O139 – first identified in…