ISOLATION OF A NEW VARIANT OF VIBRIO-CHOLERAE-01 - V - CHOLERAE-01 RIBOTYPE B27 TOXINOGENOTYPE TB31 DURING THE LAST CHOLERA EPIDEMIC IN SENEGAL

A total of 205 Vibrio cholerae O1 isolates from recent cholera epidemi c in Senegal were analyzed by conventional methods, polymerase chain r eaction (PCR) for genes encoding cholera toxin (ctx A), zonula occlude ns toxin (zot) and accessory cholera enterotoxin (ace), ribotyping and toxinogenotyping. Ribotyping after Bgl I digestion of total DNA revea led that ribotype B5a, the predominant ribotype of the seventh pandemi c in Africa and Asia, was not isolated. A new ribotype designated B27 in our database is predominant and was associated with a new toxinogen otype designated TB31.