Tracy Chouinard

INES 8090
Biogeochemistry
 Vibrio cholerae
 Climate change
 V. cholerae and climate change
 Conclusions
 Waterborne pathogen which causes cholera
◦ Reservoir warm, brackish aquatic environment
◦ In 2005 over 139,000 cases with over 2,000 deaths
 2 serovars
◦ 01
 Classical
 El Tor
◦ 0139
 Produces cholera toxin
◦ ctxAB operon
◦ CTXΦ
 Filamentous bacteriophage
(Modified from Lipp et al. 2002)
 Temperature
◦ Increase survival with increase temperature
 at all salinities
◦ 6 week lag time between temperature increase and
outbreaks

Huq et al. 2005

 Salinity
◦ Favorable survival range 0.25% - 3.0%
 Optimal at 2.0%
 Enter dormant state when nutrients are not present
◦ Can survive over 3 years in a simple salt solution at
25C
◦ Increase sea level
causes salt water
intrusion and
increase human
exposure

Huq et al. 2005

 pH
◦ Favorable range 7.0-8.5
 Optimal at 8.0
◦ Increase survival with increase pH
 Survival increase with increase ferric oxide
concentration
 pH 7.0 survived for 2 days, with ferric oxide 11 days
 pH 9.0 survived for 11 days with ferric oxide 30 days
 Iron
◦ In low iron environments produce sidophore
 Enhance iron acquisition
◦ 1970 increase dust and trade winds
 Increase in iron deposition into the ocean
 Increase in cholera outbreaks
◦ Increase iron causes increase cholera toxin
production
(Patel and Isaacson 1999)
 Zooplankton
◦ V. cholerae attaches to copepods
 104 – 105 cells per copepod
 Infectious dose for humans is 104
 Greater attachment at higher salinities
◦ Remote sensing
 Positive correction between temperature and outbreaks
 Link between zooplankton blooms and outbreaks
 Can be used to as a predictive model of outbreaks
 Current
◦ Increase
 Temperature
 Sea level
 Precipitation
 Eastern Americas
 Northern Europe
 Northern and central Asia
 Algal and plankton abundance
 Ocean temperature depth 3000m
◦ Decrease
 Precipitation
 Sahel, Mediterranean
 Southern Africa, southern Asia
 Snow cover

(IPCC 2007)
•Sea level rise change of 0.18 m - 0.59 m
•Temperature change 1.8C - 4.0C
•greater temperature change in northern
latitudes
(IPCC 2007)
•high confidence that runoff will increase by 10% - 40% by 2050
•higher latitudes and in some wet tropical areas
•Decrease in other regions
•reduction of ocean surface pH of 0.14 to 0.35 units over the 21st
century

(IPCC 2007)
 Global climate change can affect survival of V.
cholerae
 Temperature and sea level will continue to
increase
 Intertwined interactions among abiotic and
biotic conditions and global climate change
Thank you!
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