Blog Post 6: Levi Laib

The mapping of the spread of disease as shown in the maps looked at this week shows much more than just the presence of disease. It also shows human activity. The disease does not just affect humans but also the natural world that surrounds it. The mapping of human disease shows how human activity has contributed to or been impacted by the spreading of disease. 

John Snow’s 1855 map shows the human activity leading up to the Cholera outbreak and describes the infrastructure at the time. As noted in the Ghost Map, it was thought that Cholera was only something that could spread by the air but wasn’t considered to be a water-born disease as Snow suggested. The key to figuring this out was the broad street pump where the most affected families were situated around.  As the map shows, the closer the people were to the pump, the more likely they were to be infected. 

It has been shown that the spread of Cholera was due to the lack of water and sewage infrastructure. Because of the lack of a sewage system, many people threw their waste into the streets which would in turn seep into the water system and affect many more.

Johnston’s map of disease also shows human activity. The map shows the action of the British military, specifically the navy. It looks like the places most impacted by the map are places where the British had a strong presence whether that be militarily (Canada or Australia) or commercially (The US and the rest of Europe). This is not the first time we have seen disease travel across oceans and affect other people located in different places. Smallpox is another example of this when Columbus and other conquistadors landed in the New World.  

Johnston’s map also shows the presence of disease is most limited to the area above the Tropic of Cancer and below the Tropic of Capricorn. Aside from Africa, this is where most of the world’s population lived. It makes sense that diseases are more common in places where they are more easily spread from person to person.

Ghost Map, steppingintothemap.com/mappinghistory/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/S-Steven-Johnson-The-Ghost-Map-1-22-190-228.pdf. Accessed 25 Feb. 2024. 

“Health, Disease.” Health, Disease. – David Rumsey Historical Map Collection, www.davidrumsey.com/luna/servlet/detail/RUMSEY~8~1~24722~940061:The-geographical-distribution-of-he. Accessed 25 Feb. 2024.