ETYM Latin, a bilious disease. Related to Choler.
An acute intestinal infection caused by ingestion of contaminated water or food; SYN. Asiatic cholera, Indian cholera, epidemic cholera.
Disease caused by infection with various strains of the bacillus Vibrio cholerae, transmitted in contaminated water and characterized by violent diarrhea and vomiting. It is prevalent in many tropical areas.
The formerly high death rate during epidemics has been much reduced by treatments to prevent dehydration and loss of body salts, together with the use of antibiotics. There is an effective vaccine that must be repeated at frequent intervals for people exposed to continuous risk of infection. The worst epidemic in the Western hemisphere for 70 years occurred in Peru 1991, with 55,000 confirmed cases and 258 deaths. It was believed to have been spread by the consumption of seafood contaminated by untreated sewage. This was also the worst year on record for cholera in Africa with 13,000 deaths.YEAR In 1993 there was an outbreak of a new and virulent strain of cholera in India. + prikaži više