What you say is very true Sharon. It was not known until later that uncooked shell fish from Louisiana was a cause too of Cholera in St Louis for many many years. I started wondering how imported shrimp from New Orleans made it to St Louis back in the 1800s without spoiling. Jo and I bought tons of shrimp back in the 1950s but back then there was refrigeration and we tended to over cook so were reasonably safe from uncooked fish. Forget shushi, that sounds too much like a waste product. I can understand how shell fish may be the cause of cholera if they are undercooked, shell fish being bottom feeders, but still cannot be totally sure how rats fit in. Raw sewage being dumped into the river could have caused a lot of problems. But how did rats spread the disease?----Jim