Cholera has an incubation period (or asymptomatic period) after infection, lasting between hours to five days before symptoms start. People then develop diarrhea (loose and frequent stools) and sometimes nausea and vomiting, of varying degrees. The significant loss of fluid and electrolytes in severe cholera (very watery or ‘rice-water’ stools), which can reach up to one liter per hour, with high levels of sodium and potassium, distinguishes cholera from other diarrheal illnesses. The diarrhea is usually most severe for the first two days and ends after about four to six days, so long as the infected person received treatment with adequate fluid rehydration.