transmission

Last reviewed 01/2018

transmission

Transmission of cholera has been linked to faecally contaminated drinking water drawn from shallow unprotected wells and also bottled water with ice

  • seafood and other foods have frequently been a source of cholera - especially undercooked or raw shellfish
  • person-to-person spread may occur through the faecal-oral route (1)

In experimental human infections the infectious dose of V cholerae is thought to be 105-108. This figure can be as low as 103 when the patient has concurrent achlorhydria (2)

Patients without any symptoms generally shed the organism for only a few days while symptomatic patients may shed the organism for between 2 days and 2 weeks (rarely longer)

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