Resurgence of Vibrio cholerae O139 Bengal with altered antibiogram in Calcutta, India

1992 saw the emergence in southern India of a novel serogroup currently classified as Vibrio cholerae O139 Bengal. On the basis of this microorganism's ability to spread rapidly through cholera endemic areas in India and in neighbouring countries and on the propensity of the new serogroup to replace the O1 El Tor biotype, V cholerae O139 was described as the new pandemic strain of cholera. 1 Surprisingly, however, in the subsequent years the El Tor biotype reappeared in most parts of the Indian subcontinent.