- 75% of people infected with cholera do not exhibit any symptoms.
- Cholera's short incubation period of 2 hours to 5 days enhances the potential for increased outbreaks.
- Worldwide it affects 3-5 million people and causes 100,000-130,000 deaths a year as of 2010.
- Cholera is mostly spread through contaminated water and food supplies.
- Treatment for cholera typically includes antibiotics and fluid replacement.
- The main symptoms of cholera are profuse painless diarrhea and vomiting of clear fluid. If untreated, as many as 1 in 2 people may die.
- An untreated person with cholera may produce 10-20 liters of diarrhea a day.
- In the developed world, seafood is the usual cause of cholera while in the developing world it is more often water.
- Cholera is rarely spread directly from person to person.
- The first cholera pandemic of 1817-1823 spread from India to Southeast Asia, Central Asia, the Middle East and Russia leaving hundreds of thousands of people dead in its wake.
Cholera disease facts
