Introduction to microbiologyArticle on pathogensVibrio choleraNazarbayev UniversityTaxonomy and morphologyVibrio cholerae is a Gram-negative bacterium that is the causative agent of the diarrheal disease cholera. Vibrio cholerae is a member of the Vibrionaceae family, which is a facultative anaerobe and capable of respiratory and fermentative metabolism. It does not form spores and its motility is due to its unique polar flagellum. Vibrios are highly halophilic and very sensitive to low pH. (Nair, nd) These bacteria belong to antigenic group O and strains of group O 1 (O1) cause cholera. O1 strains are subdivided into two biotypes, classic and El Tor, and two major serotypes, Inaba and Ogawa. The other strains, different from O1, are called non-O1 and do not present epidemic potential. However, the new V.cholerae 0139 variant evolved from serogroup O1 to a non-O1 serogroup through horizontal gene transfer. V. cholerae O1 and O139 are currently believed to be the only serogroups causing a cholera outbreak, characterized by severe watery diarrhea. (Formadi, 2007)History and EpidemiologyThe history of cholera begins in 1817, when the first outbreak was reported in India, and then cholera spread outside the Indian subcontinent along trade routes to the west, leading to the first pandemic. Since that time, seven pandemics have broken out around the world. In 1961, the last outbreak occurred in Indonesia, then spread to the Indian subcontinent and the Middle East, then spread to Africa in the 1970s and reached South America early John Snow's epidemiological study in 1854 showed the correlation between cholera and South America. and drinking contaminated water. (Sack, etc., 2004) Later... middle of article......Galveston (TX): University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston; 1996. Chapter 24. Available at: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK8407/Formadi H. 2007. Vibrio cholera. Retrieved from: http://ci.vbi.vt.edu/pathinfo/pathogens/V_cholerae_2.htmlNair G. and Vibrio cholerae. World Health Organization. Guidelines for drinking water quality. Retrieved from: http://www.who.int/water_sanitation_health/dwq/admicrob6.pdf Reidl J. and Klose K. 2002. Vibrio cholerae and cholera: out of water and in the host. FEMS Microbiology Reviews 26, 125-139. Retrieved from: http://ezproxy.library.nu.edu.kz:2126/doi/10.1111/j.1574-6976.2002.tb00605.x/pdfSack D., Sack R., Nair G. and Siddique A. Cholera. 2004. Lancet, 363(9404), 223-233. Retrieved from: http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=4a213450-0d66-48ab-aee8-ba80898fa889%40sessionmgr12&vid=2&hid=121