Please answer the following questions below based on the case study provided: The Sacramento area was founded on the prospect of gold. Gold discovery in nearby Coloma brought countless people west with hopes of richer days and better choices for their families. In collaboration with a local merchant Sam Brannan, John Sutter and his family founded the city of Sacramento in 1848. In April of 1849, the population of the area was estimated at 150 people. By October of the same year, the population grew to a whopping 6,000 people (Wiegand, 1998). In mid-October of 1850 it is reported that a riverboat named the New World arrived in the area with a single passenger carrying the deadly cholera disease. As a result of exposure to cholera, reports indicated that within three weeks 800 people died of the disease. Many of those that perished are buried in a common grave located at the Old City Cemetery located at 1000 Broadway Street in Sacramento. Approximately 80 physicians were working during the time of the cholera outbreak, and 17 died from cholera within a year after initial exposure (Old City Cemetery, 2005).

6. Could the cause-specific mortality rate for cholera amongst physicians be used as a measure of risk for physicians? Why or why not? What are the three conditions of when a mortality rate can be used as a measure of risk of getting a disease? What information do we need to have about physicians in order to answer this question?