
To test for cholera, doctors must take a stool sample or a rectal swab and send it to a laboratory to look for the cholera bacteria. If an infant has watery diarrhea, continue breastfeeding.

Continue to drink ORS at home and while traveling to get medical treatment. If you have oral rehydration solution (ORS), start taking it immediately it can save a life. Dehydration can be rapid so fluid replacement is essential. If you think you or a member of your family might have cholera, seek medical attention immediately. What should I do if I or someone I know gets sick? Persons living in places with unsafe drinking water, poor sanitation, and inadequate hygiene are at the highest risk for cholera. It usually takes 2-3 days for symptoms to appear after a person ingests cholera bacteria, but the time can range from a few hours to 5 days. How long after infection do the symptoms appear? Without treatment, death can occur within hours. In these people, rapid loss of body fluids leads to dehydration and shock. Approximately 1 in 10 people who get sick with cholera will develop severe symptoms such as watery diarrhea, vomiting, and leg cramps. What are the symptoms of cholera?Ĭholera infection is often mild or without symptoms, but can be severe. The infection is not likely to spread directly from one person to another therefore, casual contact with an infected person is not a risk factor for becoming ill. The disease can spread rapidly in areas with inadequate treatment of sewage and drinking water. In an epidemic, the source of the contamination is usually the feces of an infected person that contaminates water or food.

How does a person get cholera?Ī person can get cholera by drinking water or eating food contaminated with cholera bacteria. have contracted cholera after eating raw or undercooked shellfish from the Gulf of Mexico. Shellfish eaten raw have been a source of infection. Cholera is most likely to occur and spread in places with inadequate water treatment, poor sanitation, and inadequate hygiene.Ĭholera bacteria can also live in the environment in brackish rivers and coastal waters. 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.
