Epidemiologic maps of Washington DC, 1878-1909.

IN ORDER TO demonstrate the dire effects that contagious epidemic diseases were having on the population of Washington DC, Public Health Officers of the District of Columbia used epidemiological maps in their annual reports to city commissioners from 1878 until 1909. These maps charted information graphically that was included as statistical tables elsewhere in the reports. Their evolution occurred during a period when the Health Officers themselves were coming to grips with the causes of diseases that included diphtheria, scarlet fever, typhoid and malarial fevers, smallpox, consumption (tuberculosis), and diarrheal diseases. The maps may have encouraged laws that were passed during this period which required Washington DC physicians to report cases and deaths from these diseases.