A geographic information system for the study of past epidemics: The 1705 epidemic in Martigues (Bouches-du-Rhône, France)

Abstract

At the beginning of the 18th century, the Provence region was hit by several severe epidemics whose causes are still not clearly understood. To draw up epidemic profiles and to identify the pathogenic agents concerned, we constituted a large onomastic database and built a geographic information system for Martigues, a medium-sized community in the south of France. The cross-linking of epidemiological, spatial and demographical data allows us to propose a new diagnosis for the epidemic which reached Martigues in the autumn of 1705.