[ODP-019] Examination of Vibrio cholerae in Stools of Residents of Kolkata, India by Metagenomic Analysis
Vibrio cholerae O1 is the causative agent of cholera disease that occurs in epidemic and pandemic forms. It has been shown that these pandemics have originated from the Bengal region of India, near Kolkata and the region around Kolkata has been said to be hot-bed area of cholera. Cholera patients emerge throughout the year in Kolkata area. In addition, the emergence of cholera patients is sporadic and a collective outbreak in certain areas with cholerae diseases has not been generated in the Kolkata area. This type of occurrence of cholera patients indicates that the source of infection of cholera diseases is scattered widely in the Kolkata area. From these observations, we thought that persons who possess small number of V. cholerae in gut lived in Kolkata area and they were a source of cholera disease in this area. Then we examined stools of residents in Kolkata by metagenomic shotgun sequencing analysis to detect V. cholerae. At first, we analyzed 31 watery stool samples of cholera patients. The results showed that number of V. cholerae in 10 stools was very small. The level of cholera toxin in these 10 stools was also low. The results obtained by the analysis of other people also supported the idea that that a considerable number of people in Kolkata possessed V. cholerae in gut.