| Disease/Syndrome |
Cholera |
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| Category |
Infection, Travel |
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| Acute/Chronic |
Acute-Severe |
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| Synonyms |
Vibrio cholerae |
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| Biomedical References |
Search PubMed |
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| Comments |
EPIDEMIOLOGY: There are only 0-5 cases per year in the USA, but a pandemic for the past several decades continues in poor countries in Asia, Africa, and Latin America. The organism persists in coastal salt waters making it difficult to eradicate. No person-to-person transmission takes place except by the fecal-oral route. [CDC website] The vaccine from the USA has been discontinued. Two vaccines are available in other countries, but vaccination of most travelers is not recommended. [CDC Travel, p. 119] Outbreaks have occurred from eating undercooked or raw seafood. Cholera mortality rates may exceed 50% in untreated cases. [CCDM, p. 106] FINDINGS: Vibrio cholerae bacteria produce a toxin that causes profuse watery diarrhea. Mild cases resemble gastroenteritis caused by rotavirus or ETEC. In severe cases, infection can produce profound dehydration in just a few hours. Less than 5% of patients have fever. [PPID, p. 2539] Other findings are tachycardia, lethargy, cyanosis, and seizures. [5MCC] Prolonged volume depletion may cause acute renal failure and death. [Merck Manual, p. 1460] |
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| Latency/Incubation |
12 hours - 6 days |
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| Diagnostic |
Clinical; Fecal smear: no RBCs or WBCs; motile vibrio on darkfield or phase contrast microscopy; Dipstick for O1 and O139 serotypes available soon; [CCDM, p. 103] |
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| ICD-9 Code |
001 |
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| Available Vaccine |
Yes |
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| Effective Antimicrobics |
Yes |
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| Scope |
Developing countries with unsafe water and inadequate sanitation; Imported cases only in the USA and Canada; [Guerrant, p. 274] |
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| Reference Link |
CDC - Cholera |
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| Related Information in Haz-Map |
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| Symptoms/Findings |
Symptoms/Findings associated with this disease:
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| Job Tasks |
High risk job tasks associated with this disease:
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