Identification of virulence factors in Vibrio cholerae isolated from Iraq during the 2007–2009 outbreak

Abstract

Thousands of people were infected with Vibrio cholerae during the outbreak in Iraq in 2007-2009. Vibrio cholerae was shown to be variable in its content of virulence determinants and in its antibiotic sensitivity. This study was designed to isolate and characterize clinical and environmental V. cholerae isolates and to determine antibiotic sensitivity, enzyme and toxin production, and the presence of virulence genes. Eighty clinical and five environmental bacterial isolates were collected and diagnosed by subjecting them to microscopic, biochemical, serological, and molecular analysis. The results revealed that 55% of clinical isolates belonged to the Inaba serotype, 32.5% to the Ogawa serotypes, and 12.5% to the Non-O1 serotype. All environmental V. cholerae isolates belonged to the Non-O1 serotype. All environmental isolates were sensitive to all examined antimicrobial agents, while all clinical isolates showed a high sensitivity (100%) to ampicillin, gentamicin, cephalothin, tetracycline, erythromycin, and ciprofloxacin, and a high resistance (97.5%) to co-trimoxazole, nalidixic acid, and chloramphenicol. It was found that all V. cholerae (O1) isolates were resistant to the Vibrio static O129 and all Non-O1 V. cholerae isolates were sensitive to the Vibrio static O129. All clinical and environmental isolates produced hemolysin (100%) and lecithinase (100%), while they showed various production rates of protease (90% of clinical and 60% of environmental) and lipase (50% of clinical and 20% of environmental). The ompW gene was amplified in all the clinical and environmental V. cholerae isolates, but not in other related and nonrelated bacteria. Multiplex PCR analysis showed that the toxR gene was amplified in all clinical and environmental isolates, while ctxA, ctxB, tcpA genes were amplified only in clinical (O1) isolates. This study indicates the differences in the production of some enzymes and toxins and in the content of virulence genes between clinical and environmental isolates in Iraq during the outbreak (2007-2009).

Toxigenic Potential of Vibrio cholerae O1and O139 Serotypes Isolated from Cases of Diarrhea in Baghdad hospitals

“…It was high percentage as there are many diarrhea causative agents in children [18]. All of serotypes obtained were belonging V. cholerae O1 in the outbreak in Iraq in 2007-2009 [19]. In this study, O139 serotype was found in outbreak of 2011.…”

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

“…For V. cholera, the following antibiotics are used: amikacin, ampicillin, cephalothin, cefotaxime, chloramphenicol, gentamicin, erythromycin, nalidixicacid, and tetracycline (Al-Razi Diagnostics Center/Iraq and Bioanalys /Ankara-Turkay). For Salmoella and Shigella the following antibiotics were used amoxicillin/clavulanic acid, tetracycline, ciprofloxicin, cefotaxime, ceftriaxone, azothromycin, aztreonam, co-trimoxazole, amoxicillin, ampicillin, chloramphenicol, imipenem (Al-Razi Diagnostics Center/Iraq and Bioanalys /Ankara-Turkay) [24] [42]- [44].…”

“…Between 2007 and 2009, many Iraqi people suffered from the cholera disease [24]. At that time, V. cholera O1 serotype (Inaba) was detected and confirmed for.…”

In silico Assessment of the Genotypic Distribution of Virulence and Antibiotic Resistance Genes in Vibrio cholerae

“…47 Saleh et al study found that all clinical and environmental isolates harboured ompW genes. 48 Another study found that ompW gene was present in all V. cholerae O1 and non-O1 isolates 49 while serotypes O1, O139, and Non-O1/O139 were also found to be positive for ompW gene. 50 The ompW gene confirmed the biochemical identification of V. cholerae as it acts as an internal control.…”