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Cholera is caused by a number of types of Vibrio cholerae, with some types producing more severe disease than others. [2] It is spread mostly by unsafe water and unsafe food that has been contaminated with human feces containing the bacteria. [2] Undercooked shellfish is a common source. [9] Humans are the only known host for the bacteria. [2]
Cholera is a bacterial infection of the intestines that leads to severe diarrhea and rapid dehydration, "which can quickly become life-threatening without treatment," says Dr. Jason Nagata, a ...
Cholera infections are most commonly acquired from drinking water in which V. cholerae is found naturally or into which it has been introduced from the feces of an infected person. Cholera is most likely to be found and spread in places with inadequate water treatment, poor sanitation, and inadequate hygiene.
Human infectious diseases may be characterized by their case fatality rate (CFR), the proportion of people diagnosed with a disease who die from it (cf. mortality rate).It should not be confused with the infection fatality rate (IFR), the estimated proportion of people infected by a disease-causing agent, including asymptomatic and undiagnosed infections, who die from the disease.
Human exploration of tropical rainforests, deforestation, rising immigration and increased international air travel and other tourism to tropical regions has led to an increased incidence of such diseases to non-tropical countries. [3] [4] Of particular concern is the habitat loss of reservoir host species. [5]
[3] [4] The medical community now believes cholera to be exclusively a human disease, spread through many means of travel during the time, and transmitted through warm fecal-contaminated river waters and contaminated foods. During the second pandemic, the scientific community varied in its beliefs about the causes of cholera.
From the Russian Empire, cholera most likely spread to European countries. In Russia, cholera vibrio was found in Baku in 1892. The authorities of the city, despite the mortality of the population from cholera for a long time did not recognize the outbreak of the epidemic.
The west-African outbreak of cholera during 1970–1971 infected more than 400,000 persons. [19] Africa had a high cholera fatality rate of 16% by 1962. 25 countries were infected by the end of 1971 and, between 1972 and 1991, cholera spread throughout much of the remainder of Africa. [18]