| Abstract: | Culturing and immunofluorescence (FA) methods for detection of Vibrio cholerae O1 in samples collected from the aquatic environment at selected sites in Brazil were compared. Of the samples examined, 90% were positive for V. cholerae O1 by FA but none was positive by culture, although strains of V. cholerae other than O1 strains were readily isolated. Evidence for V. cholerae O1 being autochthonous to the aquatic environment of Brazil is presented. Furthermore, FA methods are recommended for cholera surveillance programmes directed at the natural environment.M.T. Martins is with the Department of Microbiology, I.C.B. II, University of Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo, S.P. CEP 05508, Brazil. P.S. Sanchez and M.I.Z. Sato are with the State Agency for Environmental Control-CETESB, Sao Paulo, S.P. CEP 05459, Brazil. P.R. Brayton and R.R. Colwell are with the Department of Microbiology, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, USA; R.R. Colwell is also with the Center of Marine Biotechnology, Maryland Biotechnology Institute, 600 East Lombard St, Baltimore, MD 21202, USA. |
