How Cholera Affects the Host Cell

Cholera is a bacteria that leads to illness of the digestive system. It is specifically under Vibrio cholerae serogroup O1 or O139. A severe outbreak of Cholera occurred in London during this year. Dr. John Snow attempted to find out the cause of this outbreak, and believed that sewage was dumped near wells- essentially perpetuating the disease. During the 1800s, there was still very little knowledge on how diseases spread- people believed that miasma "bad air" spread illness.

First, cholera must be ingested at a large amount enough to overcome the immunity of the immune system. When that is done, it will take over the small intestine and begin to multiple. Cholera enables the host cell to exit a large amount of water and various ions. This toxic cholera Is made up of five B units and one A unit. On surface level intestinal cells, the cholera will stick to the wall. This allows the A unit to enter into the small intestine. It will then activate the adenylate Cyclase, which will end up increasing the production of ion pumps. The ions are then leaving the pumps, which are actually leading to the excretion of water. These are the symptoms of cholera, causing a loss of electrolytes and severe diarrhea.