At the time a defective sewage pipe was considered the probable source of the infection, but in later years Corfield revised his view and felt that contaminated food or drink consumed at lunch at a shooting party was a more likely cause. Whatever the source of the infection, the incident served to focus attention on sanitation and in combination with a growth in local government responsibilities and spending, and the extension of the right to vote, led to sanitary reforms becoming a national priority. The revised Public Health Act of 1875 that followed contained many recommendations for improving towns, building sewage systems, and creating a mandatory inspectorate. Corfield can be seen as a leader of a second wave of public health scientists who implemented many of the reforms advocated by earlier activists, such as Edwin Chadwick.
