(HealthDayNews) -- While cholera has been virtually eliminated by modern sewage- and water-treatment systems in the industrialized world, travelers to parts of Latin America, Africa or Asia need to be cautious, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says.
Cholera is an intestinal infection with the bacterium vibrio cholerae. Usually it has mild symptoms, but about one in 20 people infected develops watery diarrhea, vomiting and leg cramps. In severe cases, the rapid loss of body fluids can lead to dehydration and shock, and without treatment, death can occur within hours.
A person gets cholera by drinking contaminated water or eating tainted food. The disease can spread rapidly in areas with inadequate treatment of sewage and drinking water.
Rarely, people in the United States United States have contracted cholera after eating raw or undercooked shellfish from the Gulf of Mexico, the CDC warns.
