The diarrhea is one of the bacteria's major methods of transmission; when it gets into the waste water system and is sent into the sea, eating foods washed in the contaminated water and shellfish or oysters living in the affected waterway will cause disease. 

Interestingly enough, research has found that sari filtration, an effective and cheap method to prevent the transmission of cholera, is to use a sari or nylon cloth folded four to eight times and using this to filter drinking water. In Bangladesh, this practice was found to reduce rates of cholera by nearly half!

Fortunately, the dose of Vibrio needed to cause disease is relatively high; about 100 million bacteria must typically be ingested to cause cholera in a normal healthy adult.  If your company produces high-risk foods like shellfish or oysters sourced from developing countries such as India, Bangladesh or those in central Africa, please contact Chemlab to sign up for regular Vibrio cholerae testing to help improve public health!