USA TODAY: If you’re safe from cholera, thank my dad, a plumber (and thank the ancient Romans)
Lindsay Denny, senior public health program associate for the Center for Global Safe Water, Sanitation and Hygiene at Emory University and health adviser for Global Water 2020

“…The singular effectiveness of clean water, toilets, and soap in preventing the spread of disease is clear. … Feces is laden with pathogens that can be transmitted from one person’s gut to another person via contaminated water, hands, or food, and can make that person sick with dozens of illnesses and diseases, some very serious. In simplest terms, sanitation provides a critical barrier that keeps fecal waste from getting in your mouth. Sanitation and safe water are among the greatest public health achievements of the 20th century, and along with vaccinations, are the best innovations to control infectious disease. The impact can hardly be overstated, and we’ve come to expect the convenience and safety of this basic necessity. … I look to more governments, nongovernmental organizations, and the public to better understand the fundamental importance of sanitation to secure global health. And along the way to appreciate the legacy of the plumber as a public health protector” (3/11).