I believe the "miasma" model was the dominant theory at the time of John Snow's famous cholera investigation. In fact, IIRC the dot map method that Snow is famous for (e.g. via Edward Tufte) had also been usedby miasma-proponents; I think the takeaway is that Snow strongest argument weren't the maps, but the investigative surveying and research he conducted in addition to those maps.

https://www.ph.ucla.edu/epi/snow/choleratheories.html