Cholera

Cholera is a severe diarrhoeal disease characterised by sudden onset of effortless vomiting and profuse watery diarrhea.

A series of six pandemics of cholera, originating in the Bengal basin, ravaged the world in the 19th and early 20th centuries killing thousands of people. Cholera, like plague, became a disease of fear in this part of the world.

Cholera is endemic in India and Southeast Asia.

People infected with V. cholerae do not become ill, although the bacteria can be present in their stools for-14 days.

Illness occurring in more than 90% of people is of mild or moderate severity and is difficult to distinguish clinically from other forms of diarrhoeal diseases. Less than 10% of infected persons develop typical cholera with signs of moderate or severe dehydration.