Of all the epidemics, only one master brewer has died. No other brewery workers from any of the breweries in London have died. These workers rarely drink water as they have a beer allowance.
From the textbook Medicine Through Time At the beginning of the investigation John Snow believed that miasma was the cause of cholera. This belief was shared by most doctors in Britain at the time. They believed that foul smells in the air spread the illness.
An extract from John Snow’s report
I was informed that on 2nd September a widow died in the West End. Her son had said that she had not been in the neighbourhood of Broad Street for many months. She was one of 10 people from outside of the Broad Street area to die.