JohnSnowandtheBroadStreetCholeraOutbreakof1854CholerareachedtheBritishIslesintheearly1830s,andoutbreakswouldcontinueforthenextfiftyyears
Today,itiswellknownthatcholeraiscausedbythebacteriaVibriacholeraeandisusuallyspreadinpoordrinkingwater
Earlytheoriesblamedtheinfectiononmistsand'miasmas',whichledtomanyoftheearlyattemptstocontrolcholerafailing
Inrealitythepoorsanitaryconditionsofacity'swatersupplywasresponsible
EarlyVictoriancitiesalsoincludedcowshedsmixedinamongstthehouses
Thesecombinedwithpoorhandlingofhumansewage(oftenmerelyaholeintheground)ledtoarapidcontaminationofthedrinkingwater
Indeed,thefamousBroadStreetwaterpump(seebelow)wasashallowwaterpumpthatpumpedwaterfromthecontaminatedwatertable
Inthe1850s,JohnSnowperformedpioneeringdataanalysistoprovehishypothesisthatcholerawasspreadinthe