cholera

Introduction & Top Questions
The cholera bacterium and toxin
Symptoms and treatment
Prevention
Cholera through history
- The first six pandemics
- The rise of the seventh pandemic
- The seventh pandemic in the 21st century
  - Zimbabwe cholera outbreak of 2008–09
  - Haiti cholera outbreak of 2010–11
- Scientific investigation of the seventh pandemic
- Study of the disease
- Development of treatments

References & Edit History Quick Facts & Related Topics

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A woman in a pink dress receives medical treatment from nurses administering an IV at a crowded hospital in Saint-Marc, Haiti.

X-ray protein crystallography in molecular biology

At a Glance

cholera summary

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Related Questions

How can clean drinking water prevent cholera outbreaks?
How can people with mild or no cholera symptoms spread the disease?
How can rapid testing of water help identify the source of a cholera outbreak?
How did John Snow connect a London cholera outbreak to contaminated water in 1854?
How did John Snow’s explanation of cholera differ from the miasma theory?
How did Robert Koch study the cholera bacterium during the fifth pandemic?
How did early intravenous fluid treatments reduce cholera deaths?
How did failures in Zimbabwe’s water and sewage systems increase cholera transmission?
How did improved sanitation reduce cholera deaths in Europe during the fifth and sixth pandemics?
How did narrow-necked water jugs reduce cholera transmission in Kolkata?
How did oral rehydration salts reduce cholera deaths among refugees in West Bengal in 1971?
How did oral rehydration therapy change cholera treatment in the 20th century?
How did the 2010 Haiti earthquake contribute to the spread of cholera?
How did the seventh cholera pandemic spread from Indonesia to Africa and Latin America?
How did trade routes spread the first cholera pandemic beyond India?
How do antibiotics affect the duration of cholera diarrhea?
How do glucose and salts in oral rehydration solution help the intestine absorb water?
How do latrines help prevent the spread of cholera?
How do oral cholera vaccines help control outbreaks?
How do the Inaba and Ogawa serotypes of Vibrio cholerae differ?
How does chlorinating public water supplies help control cholera?
How does cholera spread through contaminated water?
How does raw shellfish spread cholera?
How is cholera treated with oral rehydration salts?
How long does a cholera illness usually last?
What conditions contributed to the Haiti cholera outbreak of 2010–11?
What factors worsened the Zimbabwe cholera epidemic of 2008–09?
When and where was the El Tor biotype first described?
When is intravenous fluid replacement needed for cholera patients?
When was the first cholera vaccine used in humans?
Where did the first cholera pandemic begin?
Where did the seventh cholera pandemic begin in 1961?
Which foods can transmit cholera when they are contaminated?
Why are cholera stools called rice-water stools?
Why can Vibrio cholerae survive for long periods in aquatic environments?
Why can untreated cholera lead to death within hours?
Why has the El Tor biotype contributed to the spread of the seventh cholera pandemic?
Why have foods sold by street vendors been linked to cholera infections?
Why is handwashing after defecation important for preventing cholera?
Why is the third cholera pandemic considered the deadliest cholera pandemic?
Why should cholera patients resume eating as soon as they can?
Why should food be thoroughly cooked during a cholera epidemic?
Why should stored food be covered during a cholera epidemic?
Why were pilgrimage routes to Mecca important in the spread of cholera?
What is cholera?
How does cholera spread?
How is cholera treated?
How can cholera be prevented?
What is the seventh cholera pandemic?
What are the different forms of anthrax in humans?
What causes plague and how is it transmitted?
What are the three clinical forms of plague in humans?
What causes tuberculosis?
How does tuberculosis spread?

Health & Medicine Conditions & Diseases Digestive & Renal System Diseases

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External Websites

National Center for Biotechnology Information - Cholera (Vibrio cholerae Infection)
Cleveland Clinic - Cholera
DigitalCommons at URI - Environmental Factors Influencing Epidemic Cholera (PDF)
National Organization for Rare Disorders - Cholera
World Health Organisation - Cholera
The Nemours Foundation - For Parents - Cholera
Healthdirect - Cholera
Mayo Clinic - Cholera
Touro University System - Touro Scholar - Cholera: An Overview of a Disease (PDF)
MSD Manual - Professional Version - Cholera
Institut Pasteur - Cholera
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention - Cholera

Britannica Websites

Articles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students.

cholera - Children's Encyclopedia (Ages 8-11)
cholera - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up)

cholera

intestinal disease

Also known as: moryxy

Written by

Ronald Waldman

Professor of Clinical Population and Family Health, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University.

Ronald WaldmanAll

Fact-checked by

Britannica Editors

Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree....

Britannica Editors

Last updated

Nov. 5, 2026 •History

cholera, an acute infection of the small intestine caused by the bacterium Vibrio cholerae and characterized by extreme diarrhea with rapid and severe depletion of body fluids and salts. Cholera has often risen to epidemic proportions in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, particularly in India and Bangladesh. Since the 19th century, seven pandemics (global epidemics) of cholera have carried the disease to countries around the world. Cholera is a disease that can incite populations to...

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