Clinicians should be prepared to identify and treat cholera in returning travelers using designated infection control measures to prevent hospital transmission, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported.
The CDC has identified “an unprecedented global increase of cholera infections, with large outbreaks currently occurring in Haiti, Malawi, and Syria.”
About 25 countries have active cholera transmission.
“Thus far in 2022, eight travelers with cholera have returned to the United States from Pakistan, Iraq, and Bangladesh,” the CDC stated.
Although cholera in travelers is rare and sustained community transmission in the United States is unlikely, widespread cholera outbreaks in other countries highlight the need for clinicians in the United States to be prepared to treat travelers with cholera, since they could arrive in the United States at any time. Cholera is an acute diarrheal illness caused by intestinal infection with the Vibrio cholerae bacteria. About 10% of cases will develop severe symptoms that include vomiting and leg cramps, leading to dehydration and death if they are left untreated.
“Clinicians evaluating patients with acute onset of watery diarrhea should obtain a travel history, consider cholera in patients returning from affected regions, obtain a stool specimen for testing, and begin prompt treatment,” the CDC recommended. Without treatment, death can occur within hours.
Cholera is spread through the fecal-oral route via contaminated water systems and food. It can be spread through the feces of hospitalized patient.
Editor’s note: For more information on treating cholera patients, visit https://www.cdc.gov/cholera/treatment/
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Travelers returning to the United States with cholera – information and CDC guidance for healthcare providers. CDC Clinician Outreach and Communication Activity. Published Dec. 5, 2022. https://emergency.cdc.gov/newsletters/coca/120522.html
