霍乱是霍乱弧菌（Vibrio cholera）引起的急性肠道传染病，具有发病急、传播快、波及面广的特点，是当今三种国际检疫传染病中的一种。
Cholera is a water-borne disease that is spread through polluted water and food. It is an illness caused by the bacterium called Vibrio cholera. It produces an enterotoxin (肠毒素) that causes pain less, watery diarrhea (腹泻) that can quickly lead to severe dehydration (脱水) an d death if treatment is not given. Most people infected with cholera do not become ill, although the bacterium is present in their wastes for 7-14 days. When cholera does happen, more than 90% of cases are not severe and are difficult to tell from other types of diarrhea. Less than 10% of ill people develop cholera with signs of moderate or severe dehydration.
A person may get cholera by drinking water or eating food polluted with the cholera bacterium. The disease can spread rapidly in areas without proper treatment of drink ing water. The cholera bacterium may also live in the environm ent in dirty rive rs and co astal waters. Shellfish eaten raw can be a source of cholera. The disease is not likely to spread directly from one person to another, therefore.
