Historical report: first isolation of Vibrio Cholera serogroup 01 biovar El Tor serovar inaba during the cholerae epidemic in Peru - 1991

Abstract

20 years ago, a new diarrheal disease was introduced in Peru and the Enteropathogens Reference Laboratory of the Instituto Nacional de Salud had an outstanding role in the isolation and rapid and timely identification of Vibrio cholerae. Cholera had not been seen before, but during the last week of January 1991 an outbreak of acute diarrhea was detected, presenting intense dehydration and some deaths. The epidemic affected, in the beginning, many locations of the peruvian coast. Some working teams of the General Office of Epidemiology and of the Instituto Nacional de Salud obtained fecal samples from patients with acute diarrhea coming from the cities of Chancay, Chimbote, Piura and some hospitals in Lima. The collected samples were transported on Cary and Blair media and processed in the National Reference Laboratory of Enteropathogens (LANARE) of the Instituto Nacional de Salud. Vibrio cholerae serogroup 01 biovar El Tor serovar Inaba was isolated from all the samples, it was sensible to tetracyclines and other antibiotics. This research confirmed the first outbreak of cholera in Peru.