Susceptibility to Fluoroquinolones of Vibrio cholerae O1 Isolated From Diarrheal Patients in Zimbabwe

Susceptibility to Fluoroquinolones of Vibrio cholerae O1 Isolated From Diarrheal Patients in ZimbabweTo the Editor: Cholera is endemic in many countries in Asia, Latin America, and Africa.Sub-Saharan African countries, particularly Angola, Congo, Mozambique, and Zimbabwe, have been strongly affected by cholera in recent years, with a large epidemic occurring in Zimbabwe in 2008.From August 2008 until February 2009, 70 640 patients were reported with cholera in Zimbabwe, of whom 3467 died. 1 On request from the World Health Organization, a team from the International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh (ICDDRB), went to Zimbabwe to assess the cholera situation and provide assistance to control the outbreak.Preliminary data on the antibiotic resistance of Vibrio cholerae O1 strains that were isolated from the patients in Zimbabwe are reported.Methods.Stool and rectal swab specimens were collected from randomly selected patients at 4 cholera treatment centers in Zimbabwe, including Beatrice Road Infectious Diseases Hospital and Budiriro in Harare province, Chinhoyi in Mashonaland West, and Binga in Matebeleland North provinces.V cholerae O1 was isolated and identified following standard procedures. 2 The presence of virulence-associated genes (including genes encoding cholera toxin) and the major colonization factor (toxin coregulated pilus) were tested by specific polymerase chain reaction assays. 2 The strains were also subjected to ribotyping to assess clonal relationship.3 The minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) of ciprofloxacin, tetracycline, and azithromycin were determined using Etest (AB bioMe ´rieux, Solna, Sweden) following standard procedures.The measured MICs were rounded to the nearest higher 2-fold dilution.The strains were also tested for sensitivity using the disk diffusion method.Protocols were approved by the Ministry of Health and Child Welfare and the World Health Organization, Harare, Zimbabwe, and patients provided oral consent for participation.