Health Care Provider Information on Cholera (Vibrio cholerae)

On this page:
Required Disease Reporting
Clinical Features
Treatment

Required Disease Reporting

• Reporting Cholera
  Health care providers and clinical laboratories are required to report cases and suspect cases of Vibrio cholerae to the Minnesota Department of Health.
• Reporting Vibrio spp. All Vibrio ssp. infections, including V. parahaemolyticus infections, are reportable to the Minnesota Department of Health.

Clinical Features

• CDC: Vibrio cholerae
  Includes information about clinical features, transmission, trends, and more.
  

Treatment

• Cholera can be simply and successfully treated by immediate replacement of the fluid and salts lost through diarrhea.
• Patients can be treated with oral rehydration solution, a prepackaged mixture of sugar and salts to be mixed with water and drunk in large amounts.
  • This solution is used throughout the world to treat diarrhea.
  • Severe cases also require intravenous fluid replacement. With prompt rehydration, fewer than 1% of cholera patients die.
• Antibiotics shorten the course and diminish the severity of the illness, but they are not as important as rehydration.

Do you suspect that you have a foodborne or waterborne illness? Visit reporting suspected foodborne/waterborne illnesses.