Cholera Outbreaks in the Classical Biotype Era

Abstract

In the Indian subcontinent description of a disease resembling cholera has been mentioned in Sushruta Samita, estimated to have been written between ~400 and 500 BC. It is however not clear whether the disease known today as cholera caused by Vibrio cholerae O1 is the evolutionary progression of the ancient disease. The modern history of cholera began in 1817 when an explosive epidemic broke out in the Ganges River Delta region of Bengal. This was the first of the seven recorded cholera pandemics that affected nearly the entire world and caused hundreds of thousands of deaths. The bacterium responsible for this human disease was first recognised during the fifth pandemic and was named V. cholerae which was grouped as O1, and was further differentiated into Classical and El Tor biotypes. It is now known that the fifth and the sixth pandemics were caused by the V. cholerae O1 of the Classical biotype and the seventh by the El Tor biotype . The El Tor biotype of V. cholerae, which originated in Indonesia and shortly thereafter began to spread in the early 1960s. Within the span of 50 years the El Tor biotype had invaded nearly the entire world, completely displacing the Classical biotype from all the countries except Bangladesh. What prompted the earlier pandemics to begin is not clearly understood, nor do we know how and why they ended. The success of the seventh pandemic clone over the pre-existing sixth pandemic strain remains largely an unsolved mystery. Why classical biotype eventually disappeared from the world remains to be explained. For nearly three decades (1963–1991) during the Seventh cholera pandemic in Bangladesh has recorded a unique history of co-existence of Classical and El Tor biotypes of V. cholerae O1 as epidemic and endemic strain. This long co-existence has provided us with great opportunity to improve our understanding of the disease itself and answer some important questions.