A case of the rare waterborne disease cholera was confirmed in Mansfield in the last 10 months, an Environmental Health officer told a Mansfield District Council meeting this week.
Cholera, which is typically caught from drinking unsanitary water, was eradicated in Britain in the 1800s as sanitary conditions were improved.
But it can still be found in certain third-world countries.
The case in Mansfield was brought to the region by a visitor who had transmitted it abroad, Environment and Community Protection Manager Sally Dilks said.
She was presenting an Environmental Health report to the council’s Communities and Services Overview and Scrutiny Group, based on data collected from November 2024 to August 2025.
Councillors at the meeting reacted with shock when cholera was mentioned.
Ms Dilks said: “In terms of infectious disease investigations, we’ve had six infectious disease reports from November to August. Mostly confirmed cases but there are some alleged. I’ve spoken to the team to see what they were.
“We’ve had some salmonella, cholera and a legionella case. Cholera was contracted abroad. We followed it up to prevent spread and to find out where it was contracted from.”
TravelHealthPro, the UK’s travel guidance website, reported in March that four cases of cholera had been identified in the UK, linked to travel to Ethiopia.
In total, to August, there were eight cases of cholera in the UK, after just one was reported for the whole of 2024.
Three of these were in the East Midlands, but it is not clear how many may have been in Mansfield.
Cholera symptoms
The NHS lists the following cholera symptoms:
- having lots of watery diarrhoea
- feeling sick or being sick
- tummy pain
- dehydration
The disease is mainly found in parts of Africa and Asia, in places without a clean water supply.
But the risk of getting it while travelling is very small the NHS.
There is a vaccine, but due to the rarity of disease, and the fact that it is not very often fatal, it is not given regularly.
Mansfield District Council was contacted for comment.
