Swiss researchers discover how cholera strain outwits viruses

Swiss researchers decode defence trick of cholera strain Keystone-SDA

Researchers at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL) have discovered that a certain strain of cholera has in-built immune systems.

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The discovery could explain why the pathogen wreaked such havoc in Latin America in the 1990s, EPFL explained in a press release on Monday.

In a study published in the journal Nature Microbiology, the researchers show that the WASA (West African South American) cholera strain has several defence mechanisms against so-called bacteriophages. Bacteriophages are viruses that specifically attack and kill bacteria.

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The researchers analysed cholera strains from Peru from the 1990s and tested their resistance to typical phages. They found at least three different antiviral systems in the genetic material that can recognise invading viruses and stop them from multiplying.

Viruses instead of antibiotics

If bacteria such as the cholera bacterium Vibrio cholerae develop increased transmissibility through the acquisition of such defence mechanisms, this also has implications for the control, monitoring and treatment of cholera, the university emphasised.

According to EPFL, understanding such defence mechanisms is crucial. This is particularly important in light of the growing interest in phage therapy, in which viruses are used to treat bacterial infections as an alternative to antibiotics.

Translated from German by DeepL/ts

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