Evaluation of pot-chlorination of wells during a cholera outbreak, Bissau, Guinea-Bissau, 2008.

We evaluated the ability of UNICEF-designed pot-chlorinators to achieve recommended free residual chlorine (FRC) levels in well water in Bissau, Guinea-Bissau, during a cholera outbreak. Thirty wells were randomly selected from six neighbourhoods. Pot-chlorinators--perforated plastic bottles filled with gravel, sand and calcium hypochlorite granules--were placed in each well.

Field evaluation of crystal VC Rapid Dipstick test for cholera during a cholera outbreak in Guinea-Bissau.

Objectives: To evaluate performance characteristics and ease of use of the new commercially available Crystal VC Rapid Dipstick (VC) test (Span Diagnostics, India) for Vibrio cholerae O1 and O139.

Methods: Whole stool was collected from patients presenting to a hospital cholera ward during a 2008 epidemic in Guinea-Bissau. The VC test on stool samples was conducted on-site; samples were subsequently stored in Cary-Blair transport media and sent to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for diagnostic testing by culture and polymerase chain reaction (PCR).