If you come down with cholera, you are taken immediately to a treatment center, away from the rest of the camp. You could find yourself in a tent, lying on a makeshift bed, with hundreds of others. As long as you are reached in time, you will recover very quickly. Photo One of the gravest threats to the health of displaced people is cholera. A parasite that lives in water, cholera can sweep through a population and kill thousands of people if they drink or wash in contaminated water.
Cholera attacks the intestine, causing severe diarrhea and vomiting.
Without treatment, half of the people with severe cases of the disease will die quickly of dehydration. With fast treatment, most victims can be saved.