Cholera nomenclature and nosology: a historical note

The term "cholera" appears several times in the Hippocratic writings, and for more than 2 000 years designated ill-defined sporadic gastrointestinal derangements of diverse etiology. When the first pandemic of Asiatic cholera started in 1817, the superficial resemblance of its symptoms to those of "cholera" led to its being given the same name, although there were many objections to this nomenclature and numerous other diagnostic terms were proposed. Some thought that Asiatic cholera was an entirely new disease, while others believed that the old "cholera" had newly become "epidemic". This terminological confusion befogged ideas on the nature and epidemiology of Asiatic cholera for many years, and especially after 1830, when the disease began to spread widely over Europe.