Cholera is an infectious disease in DayZ. It is a bacterial infection spread through drinking unsafe and unclean water.
Causes[]
Survivors in DayZ can become infected with the cholera bacteria by:
- Drinking water from unclean sources such as ponds, streams and lakes.
- Drinking from unclean containers such as freshly spawned plastic bottles and canteens which have a 50% chance of carrying the pathogen.
- Sharing food or drinks that has been contaminated with cholera. This can include re-contaminating yourself.
- Receiving a blood transfusion from a survivor sick with cholera.
The Immune System mechanic provides a resistance to being infected and an ability to fight off the disease once it has activated. Cholera will become symptomatic in 8-28 minutes from the initial infection. The time depends on how much the survivor has consumed contaminated substances.
Symptoms[]
- Fever - the survivor will occasionally wipe their forehead as if they're hot, and experience blurry vision.
- Vomiting is the most common symptom of Cholera. It only occurs while eating or drinking too much, because the disease lowers the maximum capacity of the character's stomach by 90% to 0.2 litres. With each vomit, the survivor will lose their stomach contents, as well as 450 mL of water and 310 kcal of energy from their stats.
- Even when not vomiting, the hydration level will deplete at increasingly faster rate as the disease progresses further.
Prevention[]
- Purifying water taken in containers from non-water pump sources with chlorine tablets or boiling it in a cooking pot before consumption.
- Avoiding consuming food and liquids previously eaten or drank by a survivor sick with Cholera. This means the survivor can also reinfect themselves with their own food/liquid items after having already recovered from the disease.
Treatment[]
Tetracycline Pills or multivitamin pills will kill off the infection. These pills should be taken every time immediately after the previous one has worn off, otherwise the infection will get a chance to start progressing again. Both pills taken simultaneously will allow a faster and more efficient recovery than when used separately. Curing cholera will require 2-8 multivitamin pills, or 2-5 tetracycline pills, or approximately 1-3 of each when taken concurrently.
It's worth noting that the sickness icon on the HUD will disappear before the disease is actually fully gone from the survivor's body. For this reason it's recommended to take one more Tetracycline or Multivitamin pill, if they seem to wear off shortly after the sickness icon has disappeared. This will ensure the diseases is entirely cleared.
The survivor can safely sustain, or even increase, their energy and water stats by taking only small sips and bites at a time, and then waiting a few moments for the stomach to digest and become empty again before consuming more. Raising these stats high enough, along with blood and health, will strengthen the survivor's immune system and cure the the disease without medication.
Trivia[]
- Drinking from a water pump while having bloody hands, will result in Cholera.