Introduction to Epidemiology 6th Edition by Ray M Merrill

Exercise 24

The obvious control measure applied was the removal of the handle from the Broad Street pump.What role did the removal of the pump handle play in the decline of the epidemic? Did the removal of the pump handle have an effect on the control of the epidemic? What other social and political roles did removing the handle from the pump play?

Step 1 of 3

The most dreadful cholera outbreak occurred in Broad Street, London in the year 1854. The main cause of the attack was a water pump that was frequently used by the local inhabitants. These people had the habit of consuming pump water in one form or the other. Many local coffee shops served this pump water at the time of dinner. One of the keepers of a coffee shop admitted the deaths of 9 of its customers, after it served them the pump water.

Those people who never drank pump water remained safe. For instance, in Poland Street number of cholera attacks was very low. The inmates of a workhouse did not drink water from pump but from the water supplied by Grand Junction. A few persons found the smell of pump water to be offensive and hence, hesitated to drink it.