Historically Huge Fish Kill in Bolivia Due to Extreme Cold is Likely to Promote a Widespread Cholera Outbreak

by Biochemky

6 million dead and decaying fish and other animal carcasses along the banks of four major rivers yields optimum conditions for a rapid and potentially widespread cholera outbreak. Keep in mind that the causative agent of cholera which is the bacterium, Vibrio cholerae, occurs naturally in water. This bacterium would be more likely to occur in large numbers to begin with at the mouths of the rivers which are near the ocean (Vibrio cholerae prefers a salty or brackish water environment). Cholera is a waterborne disease. In cholera outbreaks, over time well water can and has become contaminated with the bacterium. The government of Bolivia should be stockpiling medical supplies that help people live through the dehydration and inability to absorb nutrients that cholera victims die from.