Cholera

is an acute infection that causes diarrhea and

that results from eating foods or drinking
contaminated water with cholera bacteria. It
remains a global threat to public health and an
indicator of inequality and lack of social
development. Researchers estimate that there
are approximately 1.3 to 4.0 million cholera
cases annually and that cholera has caused
between 21,000 and 143,000 deaths worldwide
1.
Symptoms
Cholera is an extremely virulent disease that
can cause acute watery diarrhea. It takes 12
hours to 5 days for symptoms to appear after
eating contaminated food or drinking
contaminated water 2. Cholera affects both
children and adults and can kill them within
hours if untreated. The symptoms of cholera
bacterial infection do not appear on most of
those infected with it, despite the presence of
bacteria in their stools for a period ranging
between one day and 10 days after infection,
and thus released back to the environment and
can infect other people.
 Most people who develop the disease show
symptoms ranging from mild to moderate, while
the majority develop severe watery diarrhea
accompanied by severe dehydration, and this
can cause death if left untreated.
History of cholera
During the nineteenth century, cholera spread
all over the world from its original reservoir in
the Ganges delta in India. Six outbreaks of the
disease subsequently erupted, killing millions of
people across all continents. The current
(seventh) pandemic broke out in South Asia in
1961 and reached Africa in 1971 and then to the
Americas in 1991. Cholera is now endemic in
many countries


Epidemiology of the disease, risk
factors and burden
Cholera can be an endemic disease or an
epidemic. The endemic area is a region in
which confirmed cases of cholera were
detected during a period of 3 years out of the
past five years in conjunction with evidence of
the disease's transmission at the local level
(meaning that cases do not report to it from
elsewhere). An outbreak of cholera / cholera
epidemic is defined as the occurrence of at
least one confirmed case of cholera
accompanied by evidence of local disease
transmission in an area where cholera is not
common. There is a close link between
cholera transmission and the lack of access to
clean water supplies and sanitation facilities.
Typically at risk areas include slums adjacent
to cities where basic infrastructure is lacking,
as well as camps for internally displaced
persons or refugees that do not meet the
minimum requirements in terms of providing
clean water supplies and sanitation facilities.
The consequences of any humanitarian
catastrophe - such as the disruption of water
systems and sanitation facilities, or the
displacement of residents to overcrowded
and inadequate camps - can increase the risk
of cholera transmission if the disease bacteria
are present in it or if they are dispatched to it
from somewhere. It has never been reported
that bodies without infection have been a
source of the epidemic. The number of
 cholera cases reported to the organization has
continued to increase in the past few years,
with 42 countries reporting the highest risk in
2015 to 172,454 cases, including 1,430 deaths
4. The variation in these figures and estimates
related to the burden of disease is due to the
lack of many cases due to restrictions
imposed on surveillance systems and fear of
their impact on trade and tourism.

Prevention and control
A multidisciplinary approach is essential to
prevent and control cholera and reduce
deaths resulting from it, an approach that
involves the use of a combination of
surveillance activities, provision of water
supplies, personal hygiene practitioners,
social mobilization, treatment and
.administration of oral cholera vaccines
.