GC368Z2 CDCGeoSWG Series #2: John Snow (Unknown Cache) in Georgia, United States created by CDCGeoSWG

This cache has been archived.

CDCGeoSWG: Unfortunately, the area for the first three in this series has been changing significantly since they were placed. Consequently, after checking out the situation at each of the three locations, we have reluctantly decided to archive these and find some different locations where they might be brought back to life at a later date. Thanks to all who hunted for them.

GC368Z2 ▼

A cache by CDCGeoSWG Message this owner

Hidden : 10/19/2011

Difficulty:

Terrain:

Size: Size: small (small)

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Geocache Description:

Placed in time for CDC’s GIS week, this is the second in a series of caches that are in honor of notable public health people, events, or themes. Small cache with nothing but a log. BYOP.

As a result of his persistent efforts in determining how cholera was spread and for the statistical mapping methods that he initiated, the English physician John Snow is widely considered to be the father of epidemiology. Snow was a skeptic of the then-dominant miasma theory which stated that diseases such as cholera were caused by pollution or "bad air". Although unable to prove the mechanism by which cholera was transmitted, evidence led him to believe that it was not due to breathing foul air. He first publicized his theory in an essay On the Mode of Communication of Cholera in 1849. In 1855 a second edition was published, with a much more elaborate investigation of the effect of the water supply in the London cholera epidemic of 1854.

By talking to local residents, Snow identified the source of the 1854 cholera outbreak as the public water pump on Broad Street in the Soho district of London. Although Snow's chemical and microscopic examination of a sample of the Broad Street pump water was not able to conclusively prove its danger, his studies of the pattern of the disease were convincing enough to persuade the local council to disable the well pump by removing its handle. Although this action has been commonly reported as ending the outbreak, the epidemic may have already been in rapid decline. Snow used a spot map to illustrate how cases of cholera clustered around the pump. He used statistics to illustrate the connection between the quality of the source of water and cholera cases. He showed that the Southwark and Vauxhall Waterworks Company was taking water from sewage-polluted sections of the Thames River and delivering the water to homes with an increased incidence of cholera. Snow's study was a major event in the history of public health and geography, and can be regarded as a founding event of the science of epidemiology.

It was discovered later that this public well had been dug only three feet from an old cesspit that had begun to leak fecal bacteria. A baby who had contracted cholera from another source had its nappies washed into this cesspit, the opening of which was under a nearby house that had been rebuilt farther away after a fire had destroyed the previous structure, and the street was widened by the city. It was common at the time to have a cesspit under most homes. Most families tried to have their raw sewage collected and dumped in the Thames to prevent their cesspit from filling faster than the sewage could decompose into the soil. After the cholera epidemic had subsided, government officials replaced the Broad Street pump handle. They had responded only to the urgent threat posed to the population, and later rejected Snow's theory. Accepting his proposal would have amounted to an endorsement of the oral-fecal method of disease transmission, which was too unpleasant for most of the public. Public health officials today still recognize the political struggles in which public health often becomes entangled. During the Annual Pumphandle Lecture in England, members of the John Snow Society remove and then replace a pump handle to symbolize the continuing challenges that face public health.

There is a plaque commemorating Snow and his 1854 study in the place of the water pump on Broad Street, near what is now "The John Snow" public house (which is rather ironic, given that Snow was a teetotaler for the majority of his life). In York, there is a blue plaque to Snow on the west end of the Park Inn, a hotel in North Street. The spot where the pump stood is covered with red granite. Snow is one of the heraldic supporters of the Royal College of Anaesthetists and was voted in a poll of British doctors in 2003 as the greatest physician of all time. Snow also gives his name to John Snow College, founded in 2001 on the University of Durham's Queen's Campus in Stockton-on-Tees. You can read more about this public health pioneer at: (visit link)

There is no water pump (with or without a handle) at the posted coordinates. Look for the closest cousin to a water pump that you see. Based upon your studies of John Snow, project a waypoint from this spot to a location that is X feet away on a bearing of Y degrees true. Within 20 years of Snow’s death, London experienced another cholera epidemic – consider this year to be A. Even today, cholera is still with us – witness the 2010 outbreak of cholera in Haiti. Subtract A from 2010 to get X. Find the entry number in the register of deaths for the index case of the 1854 London cholera outbreak. Take only the first and last digits of this entry number to get Y.

Additional Hints (Decrypt)

Rira jvgu n 12 sbbg npphenpl ernqvat haqre gerr pbire, vg fubhyq or rivqrag jurer gur pnpur vf.

Decryption Key

A|B|C|D|E|F|G|H|I|J|K|L|M
-------------------------
N|O|P|Q|R|S|T|U|V|W|X|Y|Z

(letter above equals below, and vice versa)