A zymovar analysis of Vibrio cholerae isolated in Australia.

Zymovar analysis was used to study 50 strains of Vibrio cholerae O1 and 40 strains of V. cholerae non-O1 isolated in Australia. The strains were assigned to 42 zymovars; the O1 strains to 9 types and the non-O1 strains to 33 types, with no overlapping between serovars. All the human O1 isolates, regardless of their ability to produce cholera toxin (CT), and all the CT-producing O1 environmental isolates, were type Z14. The remaining O1 strains and the non-O1 strains belonged to a variety of zymovars, and more than one zymovar was present in some rivers.