Table of Contents
Where is cholera bacteria found?
The cholera bacterium is usually found in water or in foods that have been contaminated by feces (poop) from a person infected with cholera bacteria. Cholera is most likely to occur and spread in places with inadequate water treatment, poor sanitation, and inadequate hygiene.
Where is cholera most commonly found?
Cholera is mostly found in the tropics — in particular Asia, Africa, Latin America, India, and the Middle East.
What is the chain of infection for cholera?
The six links include: the infectious agent, reservoir, portal of exit, mode of transmission, portal of entry, and susceptible host. The way to stop germs from spreading is by interrupting this chain at any link.
How does cholera bacteria enter the body?
Cholera bacteria enter the body through the mouth, often in food or water that has been contaminated with human waste, due to poor sanitation and hygiene. They can also enter by eating seafood that is raw or not completely cooked, in particular shellfish native to estuary environments, such as oysters or crabs.
Is cholera caused by bacteria?
Cholera is an acute diarrheal illness caused by infection of the intestine with Vibrio cholerae bacteria. People can get sick when they swallow food or water contaminated with cholera bacteria. The infection is often mild or without symptoms, but can sometimes be severe and life-threatening.
What organs are affected by cholera?
A bacterium called Vibrio cholerae causes cholera infection. The deadly effects of the disease are the result of a toxin the bacteria produces in the small intestine. The toxin causes the body to secrete enormous amounts of water, leading to diarrhea and a rapid loss of fluids and salts (electrolytes).
Is cholera a bacterial disease?
Cholera is an acute diarrhoeal infection caused by ingestion of food or water contaminated with the bacterium Vibrio cholerae.
Where in the body does cholera affect?
What is the name of the bacteria that causes cholera?
Cholera is caused by bacteria called Vibrio cholerae. The disease’s deadly effects are the result of a strong toxin known as CTX that is produced by these bacteria in your small intestine.
Where does cholera live in the human body?
General Discussion Cholera is an acute infectious disease caused by the bacterium vibrio cholerae, which lives and multiples (colonizes) in the small intestine but does not destroy or invade the intestinal tissue (noninvasive).
How long does it take for cholera to spread from host to host?
Infection with V. cholerae produces a clinical spectrum that ranges from asymptomatic colonization to cholera gravis, the most severe form of the disease (TABLE 1). Following host ingestion of contaminated food or water, V. cholerae colonizes the small intestine for 12 to 72 hours before symptoms appear.
How does cholera work in the small intestine?
Mechanism. Of particular interest have been the genetic mechanisms by which cholera bacteria turn on the protein production of the toxins that interact with host cell mechanisms to pump chloride ions into the small intestine, creating an ionic pressure which prevents sodium ions from entering the cell.