[BunnySlippers]

What is Norwalk Virus?

[kingu]

http://www.astdhpphe.org/infect/norwalk.html

Had to look it up.

[HiTech RedNeck]

gonna need you, joe

[steve86]

What is cholera?

Cholera is an acute, diarrheal illness caused by infection of the intestine with the bacterium Vibrio cholerae. The infection is often mild or without symptoms, but sometimes it can be severe. Approximately one in 20 infected persons has severe disease characterized by profuse watery diarrhea, vomiting, and leg cramps. In these persons, rapid loss of body fluids leads to dehydration and shock. Without treatment, death can occur within hours.
How does a person get cholera?

A person may get cholera by drinking water or eating food contaminated with the cholera bacterium. In an epidemic, the source of the contamination is usually the feces of an infected person. The disease can spread rapidly in areas with inadequate treatment of sewage and drinking water.

The cholera bacterium may also live in the environment in brackish rivers and coastal waters. Shellfish eaten raw have been a source of cholera, and a few persons in the United States have contracted cholera after eating raw or undercooked shellfish from the Gulf of Mexico. The disease is not likely to spread directly from one person to another; therefore, casual contact with an infected person is not a risk for becoming ill.

http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dbmd/diseaseinfo/cholera_g.htm

[HiTech RedNeck]

you were prophetic on the 2nd. there is now cholera in the people from NOLA.

[cyborg]

jd ping

[the_Watchman]

If conditions are bad enough to cause Norwalk virus and cholera outbreaks, then aren't these people also at risk for Hepatitis? I thought it was spread by human waste as well. In the case of Hepatitis, the onset and symptoms won't occur immediately.

I have no medical training. Could someone please assess this? I have a daughter-in-law who is planning to take part in support operations in Alabama. I am concerned about what types of shots she should have before she goes.

[Billthedrill]

You MUST boil drinking water in a situation like this unless it comes from a bottle. Cholera is an exquisitely unpleasant disease that is perfectly treatable wherever there is a medical infrastructure left. Where there isn't it can kill a lot of people.

[Canticle_of_Deborah]

flood, famine, fire and pestilence :-(