Geographers need to be aware of the problems associated with disease reported rates which might be unavoidable. Cholera Cholera is an acute intestinal bacterial disease with an incubation period of one to two days. There are more than sixty serotypes of Vibrio cholera , a type of bacteria, but only serogroup 01 causes cholera. The pathogen multiplies in the gut of the carrier and are excreted. The bacteria are sensitive to high temperatures, acidity and dry conditions.
Transmission is completed when a person consumes contaminated food or water.
Symptoms include severe diarrhea and vomiting. Malnourished people and those who are carrying many intestinal parasites may be more susceptible than healthy people. It takes 100 billion vibrios in the gut of a healthy person to cause disease, because large numbers are immobilized by acids in the stomach. But in someone whose gut is less acidic, because of heavy parasite burden, it takes only 1 million organisms. The cholera bacteria produces a toxin that inhibits the absorption of liquids by the body.