BRITS travelling abroad this summer have been warned of a surge of deadly Cholera outbreaks globally.
The serious disease is now rampaging through countries neighbouring Europe – raising fears holiday-makers could pick up the bug while travelling.
Cholera cases are increasing on multiple countries, including several which have not seen the disease for yearsAlamy
New numbers in a report from the World Health Organisation (WHO) show cholera cases are rising in at least 30 countries.
Infections were very high in 2017 and 2019 but almost all of these cases were in war-torn Yemen.
Now cases are increasing on multiple countries, including several which have not seen the disease for years.
Cholera is a deadly bacterial infection, which only really spreads when water and sanitation infrastructure fails.
It causes acute diarrhoea and vomiting. And in the worst cases, the rapid loss of body fluids leads to rapid dehydration and death.
Paul Hunter is a professor in medicine at the University of East Anglia, and an expert in viral diseases, is calling on Brits who are travelling to affected countries to get jabbed.
Writing in The Conversation, he said: “For anybody travelling to a country with local transmission of cholera, it would be wise to seek advice on whether vaccination may be appropriate.
“Regardless, it’s important to follow strict food and water hygiene practices when in a cholera-affected country.”
The nearest countries with cholera epidemics are Lebanon and north-west Syria. These border on Turkey, which has just suffered a major earthquake.
Further, war is continuing in Ukraine and more than one million people in the country no longer have access to running water.
“So we cannot afford to be complacent about the risk of cholera in Europe,” Prof Paul added.
Why the current surge?
The WHO has identified the main drivers behind this cholera surge to include extreme weather events such as flooding and drought, along with humanitarian crises, conflict and political instability.
They’ve also cited inadequate supplies of cholera vaccines and added pressures on health services due to such as Covid pandemic.
What are the symptoms?
As the cholera infection attacks the small intestine, one of the most common symptoms of the condition is severe, watery, diarrhoea.
According to the WHO, tt can also cause nausea and vomiting and people also complain of experiencing stomach cramps.
It can take between 12 hours and five days for a person to show symptoms after ingesting contaminated food or water.
If at this point the disease isn’t treated, the symptoms will get worse and a person can become severely dehydrated very quickly.
Once this happens, there can also be a sudden drop in blood pressure, which can prove fatal if the major organs begin to shut down.