title: A cholera outbreak associated with drinking contaminated well water.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Cholera has been a significant public health challenge in many communities. An outbreak of acute diarrheal illness occurred among participants in a wedding ceremony in a village in Qazvin, Iran, in 2008. We conducted an epidemiological, environmental and microbiological investigation to determine the causative agent, source and extent of this outbreak.
  
  
  METHODS
  Clinical and environmental samples were collected and analyzed for the presence of diarrhea-causing bacterial organisms, which included Vibrio cholera. The relationship between the strains was determined using enterobacterial repetitive intergenic consensus polymerase chain reaction (ERIC-PCR).
  
  
  RESULTS
  The attack rate was 21.8%. Clinical and environmental samples were positive for V. cholerae serotype Inaba. All tested isolates had a similar ERIC-PCR pattern, which indicated that a single clone of V. cholerae was responsible for this outbreak.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our findings demonstrated that well water was the source of this outbreak.
authors: Molecular Biology Research Center, Baqiyatallah University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors: Reza
authors: R
authors: Ranjbar
authors: Mohammad
authors: M
authors: Rahbar
authors: Ali
authors: A
authors: Naghoni
authors: Shohreh
authors: S
authors: Farshad
authors: Amin
authors: A
authors: Davari
authors: Fereshteh
authors: F
authors: Shahcheraghi
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002675:Child, Preschool; D002771:Cholera / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000382:microbiology / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000635:transmission; D003967:Diarrhea / Q000503:physiopathology; D004196:Disease Outbreaks / Q000517:prevention & control*; D004326:Drinking; D005260:Female; D006266:Health Education; D006301:Health Services Needs and Demand; D006801:Humans; D007492:Iran / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D012703:Serotyping; D014734:Vibrio cholerae / Q000145:classification / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000472:pathogenicity; D014871:Water Microbiology; D014876:Water Pollution / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000032:analysis / Q000517:prevention & control; D014881:Water Supply / Q000592:standards