Vibrio cholerae, or cholera is an acute, diarrheal illness caused by infection of the intestine and is spread by ingestion of contaminated food or water. It is also spread by feces contaminated water. As with all infectious diseases, poverty, malnutrition and lack of saniation were the more prominent methods that allowed cholera to spread so quickly and effectively. Over the past 200 years, seven pandemics of cholera carried the disease to countries around the world. Trade also played a role. By 1820, cholera was transmitted along trade routes to China, Japan, and the Philippines. Cholera found its way into Africa and North America via the slave trade. The second pandemic thrashed Russia, where it spread through Europe. This caused Irish immigrants to carry the infection across the Atlantic into Canada and New York. Next, the third pandemic began in 1852 and is considered to have been the most deadly. It was during this era that John snow published his landmark epidemiological studies on cholera.
Dr. John Snow, born in 1813, studied cholera tansmission during the 1854 epidemic in London. His hypothesis was that contaminated water was the cause of cholera. The problem was that there were those who opposed his hypothesis. Many had different theories but the most prominent opposer of his theory were those that adhered to the “miasma” model of infection. One such person was Henry Whitehead. Henry Whitehead was a Church of England priest in Soho during the 1854 cholera outbreak. Whitehead was a firm believer in the miasma model of disease. However, he became a supporter of Snow’s conclusions. Later, Snow identified the Broad Street Pump as a source of contaminated water. He had the pump handle removed. Snow and Whitehad’s work set a new precedent for the new science of epidemiology as a science of determining distribution, determinants, and deterrents of disease.
Italian researcher Filippo Pacini officially discovered the cause of cholera coincidentally around the same time as John Snow. Pacini performed autopsies with his microscope and discovered comma-shaped bacillus. He would later publish several papers on cholera but was largely ignored. He described the disease as a massive loss of fluid and electrolytes due to the local action of the bacteria. Pacini went on to recommened injections of 10 grams of sodium chloride in a liter of water to manage the illness.
Another researcher that aided in fight against cholera was Dr. Robert Koch. One of the “founding fathers” of the science of bacteriology.
Today, cholera (although waining) remains a threat to humanity. It recently claimed victims in Haiti and Yemen. Eveidence suggest cholera was brought to Haiti by UN peacekeepers from Nepal. Factors such as poor sanitation (still) and lack of healthcare has allowed cholera to breach Haiti and Yemen claiming thousands of lives.
HR: modules/articles on Canvas, cdc.gov