Passive oral immunization by egg yolk immunoglobulin (IgY) to Vibrio cholerae effectively prevents cholera.

In an attempt to prepare egg yolk immunoglobulin (IgY) to treat and prevent cholera, hens were immunized by a mixture of heat- or formalin-killed Vibrio cholerae O1 and O139 organisms, or by the recombinant cholera toxin B subunit (CTB). The IgYs were partially purified from egg yolk and orally administered to suckling mice before or after challenge with live O1 or O139 cells. The anti-O1 and O139 IgYs and the mixture of either IgY with anti-CTB IgY significantly protected the occurrence of cholera caused by both O1 and O139 infection. Since large amounts of IgY can be prepared very easily and at low cost, this seems to be a useful procedure for preventing and treating cholera.