Team:UT-Dallas/Notebook

Introduction

Cholera is a gastrointestinal disease caused by a toxin released by aquatic bacterium Vibrio cholerae. Symptoms of cholera are acute watery diarrhea and vomiting. In severe cases, patients may show signs of severe dehydration, such as sunken eyes, decreased skin turgor, muscle cramping, and decreased blood pressure. If left untreated, severe cases can result in death within a few hours. There are two serotypes of V. cholerae responsible for the global cholera pandemics: O1 and O139. O1 has two biotypes - classical and El Tor. Non-O1 and non-O139 V. cholerae infections can cause similar but with milder symptoms (1). There have been seven recorded cholera pandemics beginning in 1816 and many more outbreaks in that time. Today, cholera infects approximately 3-5 million people every year and between 100,000-120,000 of these cases are fatal (1). Although cases of cholera are rare in developed countries, it continues to be a public health concern in regions with underdeveloped water treatment practices because of its relatively high death rate and persistence in the environment.