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Scientists mapped the genome of a cholera strain extracted a century ago from a sick British soldier during the First World War and found clues about how certain strains of cholera bacteria cause cancer. epidemics today.
The virus, considered the oldest public sample of V. cholerae bacteria, was isolated from the soldier's "cholera diarrhea" in 1916, while he was recovering in Egypt, the researchers said.
But their badysis of his genetic code showed that it was a non-toxigenic strain and that the soldier was probably suffering from another infection.
However, the strain was distantly linked to strains of the cholera bacteria that are the cause of current epidemics and have triggered epidemics in the past.
"Even though this isolate (bacterial sample) has not caused an outbreak, it's important to study those that do not cause the disease as well as those that do," said Nick Thomson , who co-directed the study at Wellcome Sanger Institute in Cambridge. , UNITED KINGDOM.
"Studying strains at different times in time can give a profound insight into the evolution of this species of bacteria and link it to historical reports of human diseases."
Cholera is a serious diarrheal disease caused by the consumption of food or water contaminated by the toxigenic bacterium of cholera. It can spread rapidly in areas where sanitation is mediocre and has been at the origin of several epidemics or historic global pandemics.
Experts say one of these outbreaks, known as the "sixth pandemic", coincided with the First World War.
Cholera epidemics are currently spreading in several countries, including Yemen and Mozambique. According to the World Health Organization, this disease is "a global threat" and experts estimate that there would be between 1.3 and 4.0 million cases and between 21,000 and 143,000 deaths in the world. the world every year.
Matthew Dorman, who co-directed the research, said that the badysis had also revealed that the 1916 strain had some flaws, including the lack of a flagellum – a thin tail that allows the bacteria to swim.
"We found a mutation in a gene that is essential for flagella culture, which could be the reason," said Dorman.
The research was published in the Journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B Wednesday.
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