Science: How today’s cholera pandemic was born
“The world is in the grip of its seventh cholera pandemic, but that’s not exactly news. Today’s pandemic has been around since the 1960s, burning through developing countries like Democratic Republic of Congo and Haiti. Now, scientists have used DNA from historical samples to figure out how the modern strain — responsible for 1,304 deaths last year alone — morphed from a harmless microbe centuries ago into a deadly pathogen today…” (Shultz, 11/18).