Travel-Related Cholera Cases Reported in U.S. Soar to All-Time High

ATLANTA —  A cholera outbreak last February aboard an Argentine jetliner bound for Los Angeles helped push the number of travel-related cholera cases in the United States to an all-time high, federal health officials reported Thursday.

The Centers for Disease Control announced that 96 cholera cases have been reported in the United States since January, all but one travel related. The cause of the remaining case is unknown.

That’s more cases than in any other year since the CDC began monitoring cholera in 1961. In the 20 years through 1981, only 10 travel-related cholera cases were reported in the United States, the agency reported.

The 75 cases from the Aerolineas Argentinas flight stemmed from the cholera outbreak that began in Peru in 1991 and now has spread to Mexico and the Caribbean, afflicting 600,000 people and resulting in 5,000 deaths through Aug. 26, the Centers for Disease Control also reported.

“As a result of the outbreak in Latin America, cholera has been reported in the United States in unprecedented numbers this year,” said Dr. Jessica Tuttle, a medical epidemiologist for the CDC. “The predominant number of cases have been associated with people traveling to the infected regions.”

Cholera is a severe diarrhea that can be accompanied by vomiting and dehydration. It is caused by contaminated foods and water.