Alexandroupolis (Dedeagatch): A city born of infections and the first documented death of the Italian civilian Giuseppe Bigheti.

The choice of Dedeagatch as the place where the station of the Adrianoupolis-Constantinople railway line was to be built was the reason for the foundation of the Greek city of Alexandroupolis (originally under the Ottoman government). The population grew in its early years mainly due to the settlement by railway and construction workers. Meanwhile, poverty, poor hygiene and environmental conditions led to a series of epidemics and various sporadic cases of infections such as malaria, typhoid fever, scarlet fever and tubercolosis, infections which marked the early history of Alexandroupolis. The first documented death due to typhoid fever in the area, namely that of the Italian civilian Giuseppe Bigheti, is mentioned in the paper.