Cholera Information for Travelers

Cholera is an acute intestinal infection. Cholera occurs in many of the developing countries of Africa and Asia, where sanitary conditions are less than optimal. Most recently, cholera outbreaks have occurred in parts of Latin America.

Most infected persons have no symptoms or only mild diarrhea. However, persons with severe disease can die within a few hours after onset due to loss of fluid and salts through profuse diarrhea and, to a lesser extent, through vomiting.

inCalifornia Want to adopt? Pregnant? click here

Only a few cases of cholera have occurred among non-travelers in the United States since 1973. Even with foreign travel, the risk of infection to the U.S. traveler is very low, especially for those who follow the usual tourist itineraries and stay in standard accommodations. Worldwide cholera activity is characterized by occasional epidemics in developing countries.

The organism that causes the illness is named Vibrio cholerae type O:1 or O:139. During epidemics, it is spread by ingestion of food or water contaminated directly or indirectly by feces or vomit from infected persons. Diagnosis is made by culturing the bacteria from the stool of a patient and confirming that the organism produces toxin.

The best protection is to avoid consuming food or water that may be contaminated with feces or vomit from infected persons. The organism can grow well in some foods, such as rice, but it will not grow or survive in very acidic foods, including carbonated beverages, and is killed by heat.

Treatment for cholera involves rehydration with oral rehydration solution or, in the most severe cases, with intravenous solutions until the patient is able to ingest fluids. Treatment with antibiotics (usually tetracycline or doxycycline) will decrease the duration of illness and the excretion of live cholera bacteria and will decrease the volume of fluid lost but is not necessary for successful treatment.

Cholera Vaccine Information

At the present time, the manufacture and sale of the only licensed cholera vaccine in the United States (Wyeth-Ayerst) has been discontinued. It has not been recommended for travelers because of the brief and incomplete immunity if offers. No cholera vaccination requirements exist for entry or exit in any country.

Two recently developed vaccines for cholera are licensed and available in other countries (Dukoral®, Biotec AB and Mutacol®, Berna). Both vaccines appear to provide a somewhat better immunity and fewer side-effects than the previously available vaccine. However, neither of these two vaccines is recommended for travelers nor are they available in the United States. Further information on these vaccines can be obtained from the manufacturers at:

Dukoral®
Active Biotec AB (publ)
Postal Address: P.O. Box 724, SE-220 07 Lund, Sweden
Office address: Scheelevagen 22
Tel: +46 46 19 20 00,
Fax +46 46 19 20 50
E-Mail: info@activebiotech.com
Home page: http://www.activebiotech.com/

Mutacol®
Berna, Switzerland Division
P.O. Box
CH-3001 Berne
Domicile:
Rehhagstrasse 79e
CH-3018 Berne
Tel. +41 31 981 22 11
Fax +41 31 981 20 66
E-mail: berna@berna.org
Home page: http://www.berna.org/

Note: These sites are not CDC sites and will be opened in a new browser window. CDC is not responsible for the content of Web pages found at these links. Links to nonfederal organizations are provided solely as a service to our users. These links do not indicate an endorsement of these organizations by CDC or the federal government.

Use of trade names is for identification only and does not imply endorsement by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Credits: National Center for Infectious Diseases