Abstract
Most rural communities of African countries including South Africa, still lack water and sanitation provisions putting these communities at high risk for cholera and other waterborne diseases. Cholera is a disease of the small intestine which causes severe diarrhoea which may be fatal if not diagnosed or treated early. Vibrio cholerae O1 and O139 that are able to secrete cholera toxin are the causative agents of the disease cholera. Vibrio cholerae is now known to be persistent in the environment due to its ability to associate with abiotic (e.g. sediments) and biotic (e.g. phytoplankton and zooplankton) surfaces of environmental waters. It is therefore important to determine the presence of total and toxigenic V. cholerae in the river water sources of the rural KwaZulu-Natal. If V. cholerae is present it is also important to determine how it is distributed in the selected environmental waters...
D.Tech. (Biomedical Technology)