A scientist from the U. S. has been able to win the Stockholm Water Prize worth $150,000, for conducting a research on finding techniques to prevent Cholera and other waterborne illnesses.

Rita Colwell, 76 years old, a Professor working with the University of Maryland and Johns Hopkins University’s Bloomberg School of Public Health, said that, she wanted to contribute to the society by helping people in safeguarding themselves from water related health problems.

Her research is going to serve as a helping hand in establishing an assessment process and also lay a solid foundation for preventing environmental and communicable diseases around the globe.

At a gathering in Stockholm, Prof. Colwell was honored for being the first to study the effects of climate change on the extension of diseases. The prize was announced by SIWI’s Scientific Director, Per-Arne Malmqvist.

In the 1960s, Prof. Colwell found out the bacteria that causes cholera has the ability to enter a latent stage and later revert to a contagious stage. It plainly means that rivers, lakes, and oceans could serve as reservoirs for the microorganisms.