Cholera is an acute serious bacterial infection which is caused by the etiologic agent, Vibrio Cholerae. The said pathogen is a gram-negative bacterium and can be found in infected food or contaminated drinking water. It can also be found within vomitus or the feces of infected persons, otherwise regarded as the carriers.

Cholera is caused by bacteria called Vibrio cholerae, a gram-negative aerobic bacillus. It was discovered by Robert Koch in 1883 during an outbreak in Egypt. Cholera is derived from a Greek word that means "flow of bile." It is one of the most feared diarrheal diseases because of its severity.

Cholera, an acute diarrheal disease of the gastrointestinal tract, is caused by the bacterium Vibrio cholerae. The incubation period of cholera usually ranges from a few hours to five days after the bacteria is ingested. After ingesting the bacteria from infected drink or food, a small dose is enough to cause an infection.

Shellfish that are uncooked and eaten raw have also been sources of cholera. The disease is not likely, and rarely spread directly from person to person, thus, casual contact with an infected person is not a big threat for becoming ill. A certain amount of bacteria is needed before people with normal quantities of stomach acid become infected, since the acid in our stomachs also kills a number of bacteria.

Traditionally populations at risk for a cholera outbreak live in slum communities where basic infrastructure is not available or camps for internally displaced people or refugees in which basic human needs for clean water and sanitation are not available.

Prevention of cholera includes providing clean water and proper sanitation to populations that are potentially affected. Education on the transmission process, good food hygiene and the importance of hand washing are all part of a good intervention strategy to reduce mortality.

By adopting such positive measures the death rate has slowed down and this sure increases hope that the Haitians will pull through this disaster quickly as possible. The dehydrated condition of the Cholera victims will improve if proper sanitation measures are adopted and people become aware of how to deal with the diseases.

Rivers and lakes are the natural reservoirs which are the major sources for providing drinking water. If you think - how to reduce drinking water contamination in these resources, one easy way is to ensure that no industrial waste is dumped into them. Sounds achievable?

Yes. Maybe this can be done. But the problem here is that they are lying out there in open. They are uncovered too. So, even if the industrial waste is taken care of; there is absolutely no control over dry leaves, animal feces and debris from getting added into these natural reservoirs and contaminating them.

People in the US and other developed countries are often serviced by public treatment facilities. The facilities are responsible for servicing thousands of people every single day. One of their primary tasks is to reduce bacterial content.

If you read the news on the day this article was written, you may have seen how Haiti is battling against life-threatening bacteria. The disease caused by the bacteria is called cholera.

Before the introduction of chlorination in the US, outbreaks of cholera and other waterborne illnesses were common. The outbreak in Haiti has been blamed on January's earthquake. Any natural disaster can affect the safety of the public water supply.

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