Cholera In Santa Marta Is Very Rare But Know The Symptoms For Peace Of Mind.

Cholera is an intestinal infection caused by contaminated food or water. The word made famous by Colombian Nobel prize winning author Gabriel Garcia Marquez in his book Love In The Time Of Cholera has been present in Colombia in the past but not very often and is not a real concern to the average person. The famous fictional novel takes place in and around the city of Cartagena which is also on the Caribbean coast about 4 hours drive away to the west. People at that time, which was well over 100 years ago did not fully understand the causes of the sickness but today we know it is due to poor cleanliness and sanitation often spread during national disasters such as flooding or mass displacement of people.

After a period of 1 to 5 days after exposure the following symptoms may show up.

rapid heart rate
painless watery diarrhoea
vomiting
dehydration
thirst
muscle cramps

Treatment

drinking a water based solution
sometimes IV for the very ill
not usually antibiotics

Avoidance

drink bottled water
don't eat unpeeled fruits or vegetables
make sure your meats and seafood is sufficiently cooked
wash hands with soap and clean water

If you were working as an aid worker in areas that have suffered severe flooding with heavy concentrations of people living under unsanitary conditions then your odds of contacting it would go up. It's the lack of drinking water caused by drought and poor sanitation due to a lack of water.

There have been very few cases of cholera reported in the Santa Marta area, for a visitor in a hotel or hiking the trails in the Sierra Nevada the odds are remote. Because of the record levels of rain and flooding this year however and cases reported over the border in Venezuela the chances have increased, but in the very impoverished areas where high levels of food or water contamination is present. Colombia has increased it's border checks with Venezuela due to the outbreak which was in Venezuela.

All of my time in Santa Marta has been healthy, water for the city of Santa Marta comes from glacial runoff from the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta and has under normal conditions a very good water supply so I think there is little worry of contacting this water born sickness.

For more information see CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention).

Note
Santa Marta has a very good and underutilized medical system, with many hospitals, doctors, clinics and no lineups. Walking along the street you notice that the average age is probably 30 years so the pressure to use the medical system is a lot less than in North America, combined with the fact that most people are not overweight so have less health issues. I never worry about getting good medical treatment because it's so easy to access, so I can always relax and enjoy myself.

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