Vibrio cholerae (V. cholerae) belongs to the family Vibrionaceae, is a highly motile, gram-negative curved rod bacillus, and a cause of intestinal infection. Serological typing of V. cholerae is based on its O somatic antigens and is classified into over 200 types, although of these, only serotypes O1 and O139 are the causative agents of cholera, a highly contagious disease characterised by severe diarrhoea due to the production of toxins produced by the bacteria.

V. cholerae O1 strains are classified into biovar classical type and biovar eltor type according to their biological characteristics, and both consist of at least three types of antigenic factor: A, B, and C, leading strains to be classified into serovar Ogawa or Inaba according to the presence of factor B/C. The transitional type from serovar Ogawa to serovar Inaba is referred to as serovar Hikojima.

Deben Diagnostics V. cholerae antisera are liquid products that contain a specific agglutinin and are used for the serotyping of V. cholerae O1 and O139. The antisera are prepared by hyper-immunizing healthy rabbits with the reference strains. Antisera are separated, heated at 56°C for 30 minutes, non-specific agglutinins are removed, and then sterilized by filtration.

The antisera are available monovalent or O1 polyvalent, singularly or as an O1 set.