Specific Disease Frequently Asked Questions | Cholera
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What are the symptoms of cholera?
Cholera is an acute, diarrheal illness caused by infection. The infection
is often mild or without symptoms, but sometimes it can be severe. Approximately
one in 20 infected persons has severe disease characterized by profuse
watery diarrhea, vomiting, and leg cramps. In these persons, the rapid
loss of body fluids leads to dehydration and shock. Without treatment,
death can occur within hours.
How does a person get cholera?
A person may get cholera by drinking water or eating food contaminated
with the cholera bacterium. Shellfish eaten raw have been a source of
cholera.
Can cholera be spread person-to-person?
The disease is not likely to spread directly from one person to another;
therefore, casual contact with an infected person is not a risk for becoming
ill.
Where can cholera be found?
Cholera has been very rare in industrialized nations for the last 100
years. However, the disease is still common today in other parts of the
world, including the Indian subcontinent and sub-Saharan Africa.
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What should travellers do to
avoid getting cholera?
All travelers to areas where cholera has occurred should observe the following
recommendations:
- Drink only water that you have boiled or treated with chlorine or
iodine. Other safe beverages include tea and coffee made with boiled
water and carbonated, bottled beverages with no ice.
- Eat only foods that have been thoroughly cooked and are still hot,
or fruit that you have peeled yourself.
- Avoid undercooked or raw fish or shellfish, including ceviche.
- Make sure all vegetables are cooked avoid salads.
- Avoid foods and beverages from street vendors.
- Do not bring perishable seafood back to the United States.
A simple rule of thumb is "Boil it, cook it, peel it,
or forget it. "
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Is there a treatment for cholera?
Cholera can be simply and successfully treated by immediate replacement
of the fluid and salts lost through diarrhea.
Antibiotics shorten the course and diminish the severity of
the illness, but they are not as important as rehydration.
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