Dynamics of cholera epidemics from Benin to Mauritania.

ABSTRACT:

Background

The countries of West Africa are largely portrayed as cholera endemic, although the dynamics of outbreaks in this region of Africa remain largely unclear.

Methodology/principal findings

To understand the dynamics of cholera in a major portion of West Africa, we analyzed cholera epidemics from 2009 to 2015 from Benin to Mauritania. We conducted a series of field visits as well as multilocus variable tandem repeat analysis and whole-genome sequencing analysis of V. cholerae isolates throughout the study region. During this period, Ghana accounted for 52% of the reported cases in the entire study region (coastal countries from Benin to Mauritania). From 2009 to 2015, we found that one major wave of cholera outbreaks spread from Accra in 2011 northwestward to Sierra L

SUBMITTER: Moore S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5908202 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature