Seafood suspected
in 2 cases of cholera

The disease, rare here, is often
traced to raw shellfish

Two cases of cholera believed related to eating seafood were reported to the state Health Department in April and May.

The disease is rare in Hawaii, with only one case reported last year.

With two occurring in two months, physicians were alerted, but no new cases were reported, Dr. Sarah Park, deputy chief of the Disease Control and Outbreak Division, said yesterday.

She said the cases involved an older woman and a young male. The woman was seen in an emergency room, given antibiotics and fluids and was fine, Park said. The young man also recovered after seeing a physician and taking some medications.

The cases were unrelated except that both had eaten at different seafood restaurants in a chain, Park said. Health inspectors checked out the restaurants but weren't able to identify a common source of the disease, she said.

Cholera is a kind of food poisoning, Park said, an acute diarrheal illness caused by an infection of the intestine with the Vibrio cholerae bacterium.

It isn't contagious, but contracted through contaminated water or food, particularly shellfish. Oysters, scallops and shrimp are good breeders for the bacterium, Park said.

Characteristic symptoms include diarrhea, vomiting and leg cramps. Complications arise from dehydration, but most people in the industrialized world do not have severe symptoms, Park said.

She said the best way to prevent cholera is to make sure food is well-cooked.

"If you're going to have the raw stuff, go to places where you know it's prepared when you order it. But it's not 100 percent safe as eating well-cooked food."

The freezing process doesn't kill Vibrio cholerae, she said. "It is possible to have minuscule amounts in raw seafood. If it's served fresh, it may not have enough to cause the disease. But if it sits out, like any meat, bacteria will start to grow and multiply."