Characterization of Vibrio cholerae from 1986 to 2012 in Yunnan Province, southwest China bordering Myanmar

Abstract Vibrio cholerae is an important infectious pathogen causing serious human diarrhea. We analyzed 568 V. cholerae strains isolated from 1986 to 2012 in Yunnan province, southwest China bordering Myanmar. Polymerase chain reactions for detecting virulence genes, antibiotic susceptibility tests and pulse-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) were performed. The results showed all the strains were El Tor biotype from 1986. The ctxB subunit sequence analysis for all strains have shown that cholera between 1986 and 1995 was associated with mixed infections with El Tor and El Tor variants, while infections after 1996 were all caused by El Tor variant strains. All of the strains were sensitive to aminoglycosides and quinolone antibiotics while resistant to β-lactamase and carbapenem antibiotics increased gradually. 568 V. cholerae were divided into 218 PFGE-NotI patterns, and the isolates before 2001 and after 2011 were separated into two groups according to PFGE results. The strains isolated before 2001 were mainly referred to native cholera in Yunnan, and after 2011 were primarily referred to as imported strains from Myanmar, which showed the variation of V. cholerae in this area. The molecular characteristics of V. cholerae indicated regularity in bacterial variation and evolution in Yunnan province.