ABSTRACT

I. BACKGROUND Cholera is a disease of great antiquity. The term "cholera," first mentioned by Hippocrates, signifies the Greek words, chole (bile) and rein (flow), thus meaning flow of bile (1-3). Some authorities claim that the word came from c ho lades, meaning the intestine, or the Greek word cholera, which means gutter or roof (4). In the Vedic Sushruta Samhita, which originated about 500 B.C., the disease cholera was believed to be denoted by the Sanskrit word visuchika (5). The writings of modern historians indicate that, for more than 2000 years, cholera must have been a very familiar disease worldwide, because a name for it exists in most cultures, signifying a broad spectrum of the intestinal diseases (1,3).