Call for Papers:

 

Toward the Elimination of Cholera Epidemics:
from the Past to Contemporary Societies 

Virtual workshop, 19 April 2024
 

Deadline for submission: 20 December 2023

 

Background:

Vibrio cholerae is the causative agent of cholera and is associated with the aquatic environment. More than 200 serotypes of Vibrio cholerae have already been identified and several of them can cause a range of symptoms: from mild manifestations, that do not require medical attention, to severe gastroenteritis, resulting in profuse diarrhoea, leading to dehydration and, in the most extreme cases – death. Over the past two centuries, cholera has emerged and spread from the Delta of the Ganges six times causing six pandemics: 1817–1823, 1826–1838, 1846–1863, 1865–1875, 1883–1896, and 1899–1923. The seventh pandemic began in 1961 in Indonesia, reaching Africa by 1971 and both Americas by 1991. In the contemporary world cholera remains a major cause of morbidity and mortality, particularly in lower-income countries with poor sanitary infrastructure and low hygiene standards. It is endemic in South-east Asia and sub-Saharan Africa and has recently re-emerged in the Americas with ongoing transmission in Haiti. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that the officially reported cholera cases represent only 5–10% of the actual number occurring annually worldwide. Of the estimated 1.3 to 4 million cases that occur globally every year, approximately 21,000 to 143,000 cases result in death.

 

As part of the activities organized by the IUSSP Scientific Panel on ‘Epidemics and Contagious Diseases: The Legacy of the Past’, this one-day event aims to create a platform for sharing results of interdisciplinary research provided by historians, historical demographers, biologists, medical doctors and cultural anthropologists on cholera in the past and contemporary world. The event will also discuss the broader cultural context related to cholera epidemics, and explore strategies to combat cholera. The Faculty of Biology at Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań and the Institut für Geschichte, Theorie und Ethik der Medizin der Heinrich-Heine-Universität Düsseldorf will act as hosts for this workshop.

 

Papers are invited from all disciplines and may relate to any country, society or social group, geographical area, or chronological period (both past and present).


Submission: Please submit your paper using the IUSSP Abstract Submission Form. 

 

Please fill out the form and include:

  • a title
  •  a short abstract (150–200 words)

Organisers:

  • Grażyna Liczbińska (University of Poznan, Poland)
  • Jörg Vögele (Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, Germany)

If you have any questions regarding the workshop, please contact: grazyna.liczbinska@amu.edu.pl & joerg.voegele@uni-duesseldorf.de