I am new to GIS and R, and would be extremely grateful for any help with the following please:
 
(1) How do I import ESRI shapefiles into R for use in 'SpatialEpi' package?
 
(2) In R 'SpatialEpi' package, for calculating 'Empirical Bayes Estimates of Relative Risk', 'Computing Expected Numbers of Disease', and 'Computing Parameters to Calibrate a Gamma Distribution', I need help. Are there any 'cookbook' style notes to carry out one's own analysis. 
 
Thanks! 
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