SBIR Phase I: A simple, rapid field culture test to quantify Vibrio cholerae in drinking water

The broader impact of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project is to develop a new water quality test that detects and measures Vibrio cholerae bacteria in drinking water samples. The test is an easy-to-use, field-deployable, and selective without requiring a lab, electricity or complex, expensive testing equipment and methods. The technology generates rapid test results in about 24 hours. Cholera is a waterborne disease that people contract when they drink water contaminated by the fecal bacteria Vibrio cholerae. The disease is an international public health burden prevalent in countries with unsafe drinking water and poor sanitation. The water quality test is a surveillance tool that monitors drinking water supplies and sources for Vibrio cholerae, helps prevent cholera outbreaks before they occur, track sources of cholera outbreaks, and evaluates the necessity and effectiveness of water sanitation. This environmental technology will help impact domestic and international environmental testing, water, sanitation and hygiene, and public health. This SBIR Phase 1 project will develop novel growth media for the detection of Vibrio cholerae in drinking water. Currently available media do not differentiate between Vibrio cholerae and other Vibrio species. The technical challenge is to develop a field-deployable, direct, quantitative, single-step, culture-based testing method. The project will develop new growth media for two testing methods that generate different types of test results: Most Probable Number quantification and Colony Forming Unit quantification. Technical hurdles include: refining the composition of the media, optimizing the application of the media for both testing methods, validating both methods with challenging test waters, evaluating media stability and shelf life, and evaluating the media against standard, competing technologies. Successful media will meet all requirements for sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value and negative predictive value. Successful media also will have a one to two-year shelf life. The test will be easy for anyone to use in the field without needing a lab or electricity. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.