Cholera
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•Cholera is found in contaminated aquatic environments.
• The Moneran “bacteria” that causes the disease is found
naturally in fresh and salt water, and it is attached primarily to
copepods and zooplankton.
•There are both, toxic and non-toxic strains that exist naturally.
•Cholera was originally found in the Indian subcontinent, with
the Ganges River serving as the contaminated water. It then
spread throughout the world, through trade on water routes.
By…John Magliocco
Causative agent and Symptoms of the disease
Vibrio cholerae
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The causative agent of Cholera is the bacterium Vibrio cholerae.
The class of Vibrio cholerae is a Gamma Proteobacteria.
The symptoms of the disease are diarrhea and dehydration. The
diarrhea is usually so severe, that oral rehydration therapy is needed
right away.
A healthy person may become hypotensive within an hour of the
symptoms.
The disease may progress from the first diarrhea to shock in 4 to 12
hours. Death may follow in 18 hours or a few days without rehydration.
The major organ system affected is the small intestine. The major
organ system affected is the digestive system.
This type of Gram-negative bacteria makes cholera toxin, which affects
the mucosal lining in the small intestine, which in turn causes the
diarrhea.
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Transmission and Historical Facts
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• The bacterium Vibrio cholerae is transmitted through the
ingestion of water or food contaminated by the diarrhea filled with
the bacteria.
• The water that gets people sick is usually untreated ground or
drinking water that has been exposed to a victims infected
diarrhea. When this water is used for cooking, the food then gets
contaminated as well.
• Eating shellfish exposed to the bacteria, can also transmit the
disease.
• An interesting fact is that our eleventh president, James K. Polk
had Cholera and died from it.
• The first pandemic began in Bengal, then spread across to India
by 1820. The disease spread as far as China for the first
pandemic.