Cholera and sliced fruit: Probable secondary transmission from an asymptomatic carrier in the United States

On September 8, 1995, two California residents developed diarrhea 15 hours after sharing a sliced cantaloupe. Stool culture from one person yielded toxigenic Vibrio cholerae O1, serotype Ogawa, biotype El Tor and the vibriocidal antibody titer was 10,240 for the second person, indicating recent infe...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:	International journal of infectious diseases Vol. 1; no. 4; pp. 212 - 214
Main Authors:	Ackers, Marta, Pagaduan, Remedios, Hart, Georgiana, Greene, Katherine D., Abbott, Sharon, Mintz, Eric, Tauxe, Robert V.
Format:	Journal Article
Language:	English
Published:	Elsevier Ltd 1997
Subjects:	cholera secondary transmission Vibrio cholerae cholera Vibrio cholerae secondary transmission
Online Access:	Get full text
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Summary:	On September 8, 1995, two California residents developed diarrhea 15 hours after sharing a sliced cantaloupe. Stool culture from one person yielded toxigenic Vibrio cholerae O1, serotype Ogawa, biotype El Tor and the vibriocidal antibody titer was 10,240 for the second person, indicating recent infection with V. cholerae O1. A third person, who had sliced the cantaloupe, had recently returned from Guatemala but denied having gastrointestinal illness during or after the trip. Her vibriocidal antibody titer was 5120, also indicating recent infection with V. cholerae O1. This is the first reported incident of secondary transmission of cholera associated with an asymptomatic foodhandler. Encouraging good sanitary practices among foodhandlers and prompt refrigeration and consumption of sliced fruits may prevent further occurrences.
ISSN:	1201-9712 1878-3511
DOI:	10.1016/S1201-9712(97)90039-4