Cholera in the United States: Rare, and Mostly Brought Home from Abroad

Cholera was common in the United States in the 1800s. Thanks to modern water and sewage treatment, there are now typically fewer than 20 U.S. cases a year — and most are linked to people returning from countries where the disease is common.

Image from CDC's page on cholera in the United States.

How Americans get cholera

• While traveling. Travelers can swallow cholera bacteria in water or food abroad and fall ill after they get home.
• From shellfish. Eating raw shellfish such as shrimp and crab can spread cholera. Some travelers have brought seafood home from abroad and gotten sick, and very rarely U.S. residents have caught cholera from raw or undercooked shellfish from the Gulf of Mexico.

Symptoms usually appear 2–3 days after swallowing the bacteria, but can start within a few hours or as long as 5 days later.

Keeping track

CDC tracks U.S. cholera cases with state and local health departments. Cases in other countries are tracked under the World Health Organization's International Health Regulations.

Before you travel

If you plan to travel, check whether cholera is present where you're going, and take steps to avoid getting sick; CDC's five basic steps for preventing cholera explain how.

Sources

Based on "About Cholera in the United States," Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; a work of the United States government in the public domain.