Waubonsee Community College

Arresting contagion, science, policy, and conflicts over animal disease control, Alan L. Olmstead and Paul W. Rhode

eng

Includes bibliographical references and index

illustrationsmaps

index present

non fiction

Arresting contagion

bibliography

875999826

Alan L. Olmstead and Paul W. Rhode

science, policy, and conflicts over animal disease control

Over sixty percent of all infectious human diseasess, including tuberculosis, influenza, cholera, and hundreds more, are shared with other vertebrate animals. Arresting Contagion tells the story of how early efforts to combat livestock infections turned the United States from a disease-prone nation into a world leader in controlling communicable diseases. Alan Olmstead and Paul Rhode show that many innovations devised in the fight against animal diseases, ranging from border control and food inspection to drug regulations and the creation of federal research labs, provided the foundation for modern food safety programs and remain at the heart of U.S. public health policy. America's first concerted effort to control livestock diseases dates to the founding of the Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI) in 1884. Because the BAI represented a milestone in federal regulation of commerce and industry, the agency encountered major jurisdictional and constitutional obstacles. Nevertheless, it proved effective in halting the spread of diseases, counting among its early breakthroughs the discovery of Salmonella and advances in the understanding of vector-borne diseases. By the 1940s, government policies had eliminated several major animal diseases, saving hundreds of thousands of lives and establishing a model for eradication that would be used around the world. Although scientific advances played a key role, government interventions did as well. Today, a dominant economic ideology frowns on government regulation of the economy, but the authors argue that in this case it was an essential force for good. -- from dust jacket

Livestock disease environment and industry dynamics -- The battle to create the bureau of animal industry -- The BAI in action : establishing the area eradication model -- Bad blood : deciphering Texas fever and confining its spread -- Contagions and crises : foot-and-mouth disease -- The hog cholera puzzle : controversy and discovery -- Trichinosis, trade, and food safety -- The benevolence of the butcher : the creation of federal meat inspection -- Bovine tuberculosis and the milk problem -- The eradication of Texas fever : conflict and cooperation -- An impossible undertaking : eradicating bovine tuberculosis -- Getting off the fix : hog cholera eradication -- The mirror of the past