"Today's cholera is not your grandfather's cholera," said ASTMH President Peter J. Hotez, MD, PhD, President of the Sabin Vaccine Institute, at yesterday's briefing at the Russell Senate Office Building. With cholera outbreaks spreading faster and lasting longer, this briefing was an opportunity to help Senate staffers get up to speed on the facts about this disease with a name that many have heard but few know much about. Science News reporter Nathan Seppa moderated the panel, which included Hotez; Edward T. Ryan, MD, DTM&H, ASTMH past president and Director, Tropical Medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital; and Louise Ivers, MD, MPH, Chief of Mission for Partners in Health. In addition to covering the basics about the disease, Ryan pointed out that "cholera, like other neglected tropical diseases, are also global security issues for the United States." Ivers delivered a first-person report, having returned from Haiti just the evening before. She reminded everyone that more than 4,500 people have needlessly died from cholera in just four months. Read a brief FAQ on cholera and a fact sheet on the Capitol Hill briefing.