And this is the perfect PH for these bacterial cells to actually grow, thrive and ultimately be able to infect the cells of our body. So what types of cells do these actually infect? Well, it's the intestinal cells, the epithelial cells found in that small intestine. So let's take a look at the following diagram. So let's say we drink we drink the contaminated water that contains vibrio cholera. It makes its way into our stomach where the majority of them actually die off.