This organism is a small, motile, facultatively anaerobic Gram-negative straight or curved bacillus. Members of Vibrio spp. are not fastidious organisms and grow well at 37 C on standard media commonly used to cultivate and isolate enteric organisms. Unlike Campylobacter species, Vibrios are able to metabolize a variety of sugars but usually do not produce gas. Strains can be halotolerant or halophilic, with some requiring 3% NaCl for normal growth.
Reservoirs for these organisms include contaminated water or foods, and especially waters and foods associated with shellfish. Vibrio cholerae is the etiological agent for cholera and is most commonly transmitted through the fecal-oral route via contaminated water. Cholera causes an acute gastrointestinal infection resulting in extreme diarrhea (bloody rice water stool) of volumes up to 20-30 L/day. It can be fatal (25-50% of cases) due to hypovolemic shock and metabolic acidosis leading to cardiovascular system collapse, but a majority of cases resolve themselves in 5-7 days.