The disease is most common in places with poor sanitation, crowding, war, and famine. It is caused by eating food or drinking water contaminated with a bacterium called Vibrio cholerae.
Vibrio cholerae, the bacterium that causes cholera, is usually found in food or water contaminated by feces from a person with the infection. Common sources include:
Municipal water suppliesIce made from municipal waterFoods and drinks sold by street vendorsVegetables grown with water containing human wastesRaw or undercooked fish and seafood caught in waters polluted with sewage
When a person consumes the contaminated food or water, the bacteria release a toxin in the intestines that produces severe diarrhea.
It is not likely you will catch cholera just from casual contact with an infected person
