Cholera is an aquatic or food-borne illness. It spreads much faster in regions of the world that do not have the access to clean foods and water like many of the upper level countries do. This allows it to now spread through the nation, as once it has gotten to its human host, it can spread through the symptoms. It has two types, the classical version and the El Tor version. The classical cholera was responsible for the pandemics during the 19^th and early 20^th centuries, while the El Tor is responsible for the pandemic occurring today. The classical seems to be a much deadlier version of the virus, as many people would die in 24 hours of showing symptoms. The El Tor, while it can kill people, usually only shows minor to mild symptoms, which allows it to spread far greater as it doesn’t immediately kill its victims.

Cholera was originally coincided with Hindu pilgrimages. However, it got in with some of the traders in the Asian continent, allowing it to spread throughout Asia. Europe, however, was not affected by the first Cholera epidemic. The second epidemic, reached pandemic levels, as immigrants from Russia brought it to Europe where it spread like wildfire. These Europeans eventually immigrated to the western hemisphere, where it had contaminated worldwide.

The third Cholera pandemic was the deadliest of them all with the most deaths being recorded during the 1852-1863 timespan. During this pandemic John Snow published his work on Cholera. John Snow suggested that the disease was spread through water contamination instead of the miasma that was popularly accepted by the community. However, the miasma theory was not that far off since it was what was infecting the water, which helped spread the cholera. Cholera helped sparked the influence into researching the germ theory, which would be discovered by Dr. Robert Koch.

Cholera is still a problem today. It is mostly a problem in 3^rd world countries, as again they have problems getting the uncontaminated food and water. It still kills a great number of people. Oral Rehydration Salts are one of the only treatments today for Cholera and is used greatly in the 3^rd world countries that are being affected by this disease.