Effective surveillance led to control of 2013 cholera outbreak in Mexico

Ongoing microbiologic surveillance of Vibrio cholerae infection in Mexico successfully controlled an outbreak in the La Huasteca region within 13 weeks, according to recent findings. In an MMWR report, researchers characterized an outbreak of V. cholerae serogroup O1, serotype Ogawa, biotype El Tor, which occurred in September in Mexico. The first two cases of cholera were identified on Sept. 2 and 6 by Mexico’s National Epidemiological Surveillance System. The cases were confirmed via rectal swab cultures. Additional analysis revealed that the strains were identical to each other but different from strains that previously circulated in Mexico. These strains were also indistinguishable from the strain that led to outbreaks in Haiti, the Dominican Republic and Cuba. The strain was vulnerable to doxycycline, moderately susceptible to ampicillin and chloramphenicol, had less than complete susceptibility to ciprofloxacin, and resistant to furazolidone and trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole. Investigators were unable to determine a common source of infection, identify any...