What is cholera? 

"Cholera is an acute illness that results in profuse watery diarrhea
"It's caused by the Vibrio cholerae bacterium, a relatively simple organism that lives in fresh water. Cholera is a bacterial infection.
"Under normal circumstances, your gut absorbs water and nutrients from the food you eat and drink, but when you are infected with cholera, the opposite occurs. The toxin released by the bacteria causes increased secretion of water and chloride ions from the intestine, which results in watery diarrhoea. If the diarrhoea goes untreated, death can result from severe dehydration and shock."

What causes cholera?

Most people contract cholera through drinking water or eating food that has been fecally contaminated by the bacteria.
Uncooked shellfish, milk, cooked rice, lentils, potatoes, beans, eggs, chicken and coconut milk all can become sources of the disease, but potable water remains the most important source.
On the whole, cholera is a disease that preys on the disadvantaged because when piped water and sanitation is available, people usually do not get infected. In developed countries such as the USA, cholera has been very rare for the last 100 years. According to statistics, 0 – 5 cases are reported in the USA each year.

Symptoms of cholera

Most people who are exposed don’t become ill and never know they are infected. However, because they shed the cholera bacteria in their stool for seven to 14 days, they can still infect others.
Most people who become sick with cholera experience only mild or moderate diarrhoea that’s hard to distinguish from diarrhoea caused by other problems.
The onset of cholera is usually sudden, with incubation periods ranging from six hours to five days.
Cholera symptoms can range from mild to severe and include:

• Severe, watery diarrhoea. Diarrhoea (look out for the characteristic ‘rice water’ stools or diarrhoea that has a fishy odour). What makes it so deadly is the loss of huge amounts of fluids in a short period.
• Nausea and vomiting. It occurs in the early and later stages, it may persist for hours.
• Muscle cramps. This is a result from the loss of salts: chloride, sodium and potassium.
• Dehydration. This can develop within hours. Depending on how much body fluid has been lost, dehydration can range from mild to severe.