History and Evolution of Cholera
Cholera had its first appearance in South Asia in 1817 stemming from contaminated rice.
The bacteria was able proliferate by travelling through trade routes, leading to it spreading to various other Asian countries such as Indonesia where it killed approximately 100,000 people on the island of Java. Later in the 1900s, Cholera spread to Africa in 1971 and lastly the Americas in 1991 due to yet another pandemic.
During the 1990s where Cholera was mainly prevalent in both Asia and Africa, the rates remained fairly low until there was a major outbreak in Peru and caused about over 300,000 reported cases. Later on, the bacteria made another appearance in South Asia in 1992, affecting Madras, India, and Bangladesh.
Today, Cholera can be spread through contaminated water and food items, and affects approximately 1.3 to 4 million people per year.
There are two serogroups of bacteria that cause cholera: O1 and O139. The O1 variation of cholera was first found in Indonesia in 1934, it was formerly isolated but unidentified in Sinai in 1905. The O139 variant first became an epidemic in 1992 in India and Bangladesh.
Nowadays, cholera O1 is found in 23 countries, while cholera O139 is found in at least 11 southeastern Asian countries.
Similar bacterial illnesses:
Typhoid fever, similar to cholera, is transmitted through ingestion of contaminated food, drink, or water. Typhoid Fever is caused by the Salmonella typhi bacteria and typically results in weakness, stomach pain, diarrhea/constipation, cough, loss of appetite, and occasionally a rash.
Cholera is said to mainly breakout in regions of Africa and the Mediterranean. Most populations are affected due to lack of water treatment available in the country. Approximately 1.3 to 4 million people get cholera each year, of these about 21000 to 143000 people die.
During 2017 there has been a drastic jump in the spread of cholera in Asia, with Africa having the second-most and Oceania having almost none.