As most of the V. cholerae cells are attached to copepods, researchers, including Dr. Huq's group, decided to try using a prevention technique that is based on an experience in Africa. In Africa, the guinea worm disease has all but been eradicated through the use of the simple technique of filtering drinking water with cheap nylon cloth. It is low cost. It uses materials that the people know, making it unnecessary for them to learn new techniques with minimal or at no cost. In the case of managing cholera by filtering water in Asia, clean sari material makes an effective filter for removing copepods from the water.
Cholera is dose dependent.
While simple filtering will not eradicate the disease entirely, it can help to reduce the number of cholera cases, which, in turn, will help to limit the vicious cycle of the disease. Dr. Huq recounted an experience he and Dr. Colwell had in Bangladesh. There they met a village woman who was collecting water from a local pond. They put the water she had collected in a glass container and showed her its appearance before and after filtration using a sari cloth. When the containers of filtered and unfiltered water were held up to the light, the woman could easily see the positive affect of the filtering and vowed not to use water without fitration any more.