Researchers at the University of Central Florida (UCF), United States, have developed a technique that uses sugar and iron oxide nanoparticles to test water sources that could be contaminated with the cholera toxin. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), there are an estimated three to five million cases of cholera yearly, resulting in 100,000 to 120,000 deaths. Thousands of lives have been claimed in Haiti due to cholera, since the earthquake there last year, and WHO has warned that the epidemic has not yet reached its peak. The UCF technique uses the sugar dextran coated with iron oxide nanoparticles. The nanoparticles are then added to a water sample, and, because the dextran looks similar to the cholera toxin receptor, the cholera toxin, if present, will bind to the nanoparticles’ dextran. The technique is likely to be cheaper than those currently available, and would provide results more quickly, enabling workers to restrict access to contaminated sources and limit the spread of the disease. J. Manuel Perez, the lead researcher, said “[I]t’s really quite amazing. It means we have a quicker diagnostic tool using a simple and relatively cheap sugar-nanoparticle combination.” Early studies show that the technique could also be used to treat someone with cholera. Janna Wehrle, of the National Institutes of Health, who oversees Perez’s work, said “[B]y developing a fast and sensitive test for cholera toxin that does not require sophisticated equipment or refrigeration, Drs. Perez and Teter have provided health care workers with a potentially valuable tool for use in areas struck by natural disasters or with inadequate infrastructure. The possibility that the novel chemistry discovered by these investigators might also be useful for treating cholera is especially exciting.”