The term first seen in the works of Hippocrates was believed to have been believed form Greek worlds chole (bile) and rein (to flow), thus meaning flow of bile.
The disease has a homeland in Bengal basin, the delta of the Ganges and Brahmaputra Rivers.
The modern history of cholera began in 1817, when cholera spread out of India in what the literature describe as the first of seven pandemics.
In 1884, Robert Koch summarized his study on the etiology of cholera. He isolated in pure culture and called ‘comma –bacillus’ now known as Vibrio cholera O group 1.
At that time, he was in the German Cholera Commission as a member. He investigated cholera in Egypt during the fifth pandemic.
The seminal work that led to the discovery of cholera toxin was made by SN De in 1959. This done by injecting of living Vibrio cholerae or cell free filtrates into the lumen of a ligated loop of rabbit ileum caused accumulation of large amount of fluid having gross similarity to cholera.
It was 17 years later the putative enterotoxin was isolated and purified in 1969 by Finkeltein and his co-workers.
Epidemic cholera has appeared relatively recently on the global stage. It spread throughout the word early in the 19th century, causing severe epidemics in the crowded cities of the newly industrializing Europe , and has since recurred in massive multicontinental pandemics.
Cholera struck London in 1832, claiming around 7000 lives and it was believed that the disease were transmitted through air. However it was discovered by Dr. John Snow that cholera is a waterborne disease after having closely observed the cholera epidemics of 1848 to 1849 in Lambeth.
The discovery of cholera
