SEOUL: Scientists have developed a new cholera vaccine expected to give poor populations a much cheaper protection against the disease, an international health agency said yesterday.

Cholera, an acute intestinal infection caused by contaminated food or water, remains a major health problem in the developing world and kills an estimated 120,000 people a year.

But the only internationally licensed vaccine available so far is too expensive for most people in such nations, costing about $18 for a dose in Bangladesh, according to the Seoul-based International Vaccine Institute (IVI).