Cholera is a diarrheal infection caused by an extremely resilient comma-shaped bacterium called Vibrio cholerae. It's typically ingested via contaminated water or tainted foods. This microscopic pathogen can survive in the environment without a host and reproduces most effectively in slightly salty, brackish water. Consuming large amounts of Vibrio cholerae may cause life-threatening dehydration via drastic diarrhea and vomiting.
Outbreaks often erupt when sanitation systems—clean water access, plumbing, and toilets—are unavailable or poorly maintained, particularly during humanitarian crises. Someone may be a carrier for the disease without feeling sick, releasing pathogens into the environment via their poop. Sewage runoff may spread via rain or flooding and spread the pathogen widely. The bacteria can also spread on the bodies of flies and the feet, feathers, and fur of animals.
The world is currently in the midst of its seventh official cholera pandemic, which began in the 1960s and continues to infect hundreds of thousands of people annually. In 2023, this pandemic sickened more than half a million people and killed more than 4,000.
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In 1961, the world's seventh recorded cholera pandemic started in South Asia, and it has continued through the decades. India and Bangladesh are at particular risk. This pandemic is driven partly by conflict, population displacement, extreme weather, and poor water infrastructure.
This global health threat sickened more than half a million people in 2023 and killed 4,007 people. That's a 71% increase in deaths as compared to a year earlier. (Report only offered in PDF format.)
It's borborygmi. The sound is produced when gas or liquid moves through the bowel. Peristalsis, the wave-like muscle tightening process that typically pushes food through the digestive system, produces the sound as it tries to push these substances through the body.
There are three recommended cholera vaccines on the market. The number of required shots and the period of protection they provide vary, but each of them can be life-saving.
His pioneering epidemiology work during an 1854 cholera outbreak mapped out the commonalities between people in London who were getting sick. He discovered that ill people were getting water from the same Broad Street pump. Before Snow's work, the prevailing theory was that bad air sickened individuals instead of cholera-causing bacteria in the water.
In the mid-1800s—when John Snow identified cholera in London—the disease was known simply as the "Blue Death." That's because blood would thicken in patients' veins when they were struggling with extreme dehydration. As a result, their skin would turn a blueish hue as their blood was starved of oxygen.
This animated video offers a comprehensive look at how cholera spreads. It makes clear why it's so difficult to stamp out this disease in communities around the world. It also details what steps can help control cholera.
Vibrio cholerae is the pathogen that causes cholera. It can reproduce in the environment without a human host, which means it's formally called a facultative pathogen. Obligate pathogens need a host to reproduce. Examples of obligate-based diseases include leprosy and smallpox.
Runoff from sewage—exacerbated by situations like flooding or extreme rains—heightens this threat. Increasing temperatures also create the ideal conditions for the bacteria to reproduce, increasing transmission risks.
Once a person has ingested large amounts of the bacteria, typically through contaminated water, cholera bacteria begin producing and releasing a toxin inside their host. It attacks the mucosal lining of the intestine, making it hard to absorb liquids. This process leads to cholera's characteristic symptoms, like voluminous, watery diarrhea.
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