Vibrio cholerae/mimicus in fecal microbiota of healthy children in a cholera endemic urban slum setting in Kolkata, India.

During a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled probiotic trial among 3758 children residing in an urban slum in Kolkata, India, Vibrio cholerae/mimicus was detected in fecal microbiota of healthy children. The importance of this finding in the local, regional and global transmission of cholera is discussed.