Antimicrobial susceptibility and genomic characterization of Vibrio cholerae non-O1/non-O139 isolated from clinical and environmental samples in Jiaxing City, China

Abstract Non-O1/non-O139 (NOVC) strains inhabit aquatic environments and sporadically induce human illnesses. This study involved the virulence and antimicrobial genetic characterization of 176 NOVC strains, comprising 25 from clinical samples and 151 from environmental sources, collected between 2021 and 2023. The antimicrobial susceptibility of the examined NOVC population was predominantly high, exhibiting only poor susceptibility to colistin, with 89.2% resistance. The examination of virulence genes revealed that the majority of strains were positive for glucose metabolism (als gene) (169/176, 96.0%). Through multilocus sequence typing, the 176 NOVC strains were categorised into 121 sequence types, 79 of which were novel. NOVC strains demonstrate significant genetic variability and frequently engage in recombination. This work offers genetic characterization of the pathogenicity and antimicrobial resistance of a NOVC community. Our findings offer insights that may aid in the development of preventative and treatment methods for this pathogen.