[The effects of the interference of the Civil Veterinary service (CVS) of Java after the outbreak of rinderpest in 1878]

The Civil Veterinary Service on Java, Netherlands East-Indies, was established in 1853, more than 20 years after the introduction of the Cultivation System. During the 19th century its tasks were directed at the survey of livestock, esp. its health. Despite the fact that the number of veterinarians was far from enough, the communications problematic, and the optimal functioning of the Service assailed by infrastructional shortcomings, the CVS managed to carry out--in a relatively short period--a great deal of significant work. The CVS sometimes misjudged the situation completely, e.g. after the outbreak of rinderpest in 1878, that was a major catastrophe. The Dutch laws pertaining to the fight against this diseases were enforced in the Netherlands East-Indies. Agriculture suffered from the ban on moving cattle, cattle suffered from a feed shortage and cattle owners suffered from financial and emotional damage. Although it is impossible to determine exactly the influence of the adopted measures on the course of the epizootic, there are indications that the damages were aggravated through governmental interference.

Foot and mouth disease in Brazil and its control--an overview of its history, present situation and perspectives for eradication

The objective of eliminating foot and mouth disease (FMD) in Brazil has been mainly motivated by the constant preoccupation of Brazilian authorities, livestock breeders and the meat industry with avoiding economic losses due to export restrictions. In 1934, the first national sanitary legislation was enacted, and the Pan-American Foot and Mouth Disease Center in Rio de Janeiro was inaugurated in 1951, with international participation. An overview is given of the past campaigns against FMD, the legislation, policies and field activities. The reasons for the failure of the past campaigns are discussed. The structure of the existing campaign and the present epidemiological situation are explained, and the further possibilities of being recognized as an FMD-free country are discussed.

Professional advantage and public health: British veterinarians and State Veterinary Services, 1865-1939

At the beginning of the twentieth century, municipal authorities in England and Wales, and in Scotland, began to develop systems of veterinary public health which encompassed both the welfare of animals and the safety of meat and milk intended for human consumption. This paper examines the motives behind veterinary attempts to extend the integration of human and animal health considerations within the public health framework in the inter-war period. In 1938 the Ministry of Agriculture implemented a national administrative structure for the management of animal diseases which absorbed the veterinary personnel of the municipal authorities, whose own veterinary public health activities largely fell into abeyance. As a result, the ideal of veterinary public health disappeared from British public health practice after 1939, and lost its force as a professional political cause. The mid-century disappearance of animal health from consideration in British public health programmes was one of a complex of historical strands which contributed to the late-twentieth-century emergence of public health crises over such animal-borne diseases as salmonellosis, Escherichia coli infection, and bovine spongiform encephalopathy.

Pioneers in the Victorian provinces: veterinarians, public health and the urban animal economy

From the 1850s in Britain, concerns were growing about the role of animals in transmitting disease to man, whether through the food chain or through infection. While London is often seen as providing a model for public health reform, it was the great provincial cities that initiated veterinary involvement in public health in the closing years of the century. The emergence of this new strand of public health activity is the subject of this paper.

[Food control--between health and honest trade]

Food control is a very old practice, part of regulations meant to safeguard order and control in the cities. The history of modern food safety control goes to the rise of local health commissions, set up to curtail the cholera epidemics in the first half of the 19th century. Modern sciences like chemistry and microbiology brought new monitoring tools, while industrial food processing in the rapidly growing late 19th century cities meant new challenges for the authorities. Food control was primarily the responsibility of local health authorities. The process of getting food control legislation in place in Norway was very long and full of conflicts. The initiative for it came from health authorities, while trade and agricultural interests resisted their push. During the 1950 and 1960s, the professional responsibility passed from physicians to veterinarians. For a long time, food control was uncontroversial and attracted little political attention. The mad cow disease crises in 1996 changed that. Because of the flagging confidence in the safety of food, questions were raised not only about the independence of the authorities, but also about government authority in general. The legislation for food control in Norway is now being revised and the administrative apparatus is overhauled.

[From horse doctor to cow leech to veterinary manager. Regulation of the market for veterinary services in historical perspective]

In the course of the last two centuries veterinarians succeeded in gaining a monopoly with respect to a number of specific tasks within society under the motto "to the benefit of man and animal alike". Today, a veterinary infrastructure exists in the western world, which is usually taken for granted by society. Before the responsibility for maintaining animal resources and protecting both animal and human health were entrusted to veterinarians, both the process of scientific progress and professionalization of veterinary medicine were necessary. In this paper the regulation of the market for veterinary services in The Netherlands is decribed. Until World War II, the military and the colonies represented a major demand for veterinary services. A healthly livestock has always been considered as a main concern by the Dutch government with respect to the domestic food supply as well as exports. State intervention concerning veterinary medicine therefore focused on the organized campaigns against livestock diseases. Early national veterinary legislation originated from this concern, as is still the case today within the EU framework. The protection of human health only became part of the veterinary professional domain at a relatively late stage. Due to a strong economic growth from the 1960s onwards, veterinary practice was extended with the care for an increasing number of companion animals. The veterinary profession and its employment are subject to changes in society, such as the number of animals and the significance that is paid to the different species. In 1900 there were 4 million production animals in The Netherlands, while the human population counted 5 million. One century later, not less than approximately 130 million farm animals and 30 million companion animals are living in this country, which now has about 16 million inhabitants. Consquently, the total number of active vets increased from about 250 to 4,000 in the same period, while the number of group and solo practices both increased.

[Health and disease in humans and animals over the course of history]

A historical review of the terms health and sickness in human beings and animals. The terms health and sickness have changed from ancient history to the present day and have also been modified. The notions of what life really is, when it starts and when it ends, have contributed to these changes. Historically, health and sickness have generally been interpreted anthropocentrically in the course of time, rarely has the companionship between man and animal been taken into account. A closer look over the past three millennia as to the science of the dynamics of diseases, the humoral pathology and the solidistic pathology, leads to the conclusion that the terms sickness and health have only been understood in general, not in detail. In the last decades of the 19th century and up to the present day an essential change of the notion of sickness was initiated through cellular pathology by R. Virchow (1821-1902). Eventually, bacteriology, virology, molecular biology and gene technology have established new standards with regard to health and sickness and have paved the way to the present holistic medicine, which is based on science. Sickness is defined as a verifiable divergence from the norm of anatomical, physiological, immunological and psychic conditions of an organism and, accordingly, as a pathological form of being, implying a disturbance of homeostasis. The legal issues such as the federal laws on epidemic diseases of human beings and animals and on insurance are dealt with in conclusion.

The AVMA legislative initiative

The AVMA's legislative initiative impacts veterinarians, animal owners and producers, and the general public. The purpose of this report is to review the history that led to the AVMA's Executive Board decision in November 1991, to commit manpower and resources to seek a legislative solution to the dilemma facing veterinarians in choosing between following the letter of the law or their professional oath when use of a drug in an extra-label manner is indicated. This action resulted in the introduction into the 102nd Congress of 2 bills that would have codified existing FDA policy on extra-label use. This proposed legislation, in turn, encouraged an open forum on this issue. This report addresses some of the frequently voiced concerns including the scope of the legislation and its impact on public health.

[Public control of contagious animal diseases--effect over changing times]

A survey of the development of public control of animal diseases in Germany is made. The control of contagious diseases on the basis of confederation law has a history of more than hundred years. The knowledge and experience collected during this time are described.

[The first Polish animal contagious disease act of 1844]

The Veterinary Control Act of 1844 was the first to regulate in entirety the control of infectious diseases in animals and questions of sanitary inspection of animal food products in the Kingdom of Poland. The act listed explicit procedures regarding diagnostics, control and eradication of diseases as well as concerning animal food product inspection. The act required that animal owners become familiar with symptoms of animal diseases, their methods of control and that they prevent their spreading. The obligations of veterinarians, state physicians and administrative control bodies in the control of animal diseases were specified by the act. Besides the main text on the control of diseases and meat inspection the act also contains elements of food law, some norms concerning public law and order (e.g. requirements concerning dogs) and even some regulations on animal protection.

Cruelty reviewed

Pain which may otherwise be considered as unnecessary and unreasonable may apparently be justified by the purpose for which the act causing the pain was carried out. When deciding whether or not cruelty has occurred, the court may consider, inter alia: the element of sport associated with the incident; measures taken to alleviate the pain and suffering; whether the infliction of the pain was justified and lawfully excused in that it was inflicted in the protection of personal property or of other animals or persons, who were actually being attacked or under real threat of imminent attack when the act causing the pain took place. In order to be lawfully excused on these grounds, the measures taken to protect personal safety and property must be reasonable having regard to all the circumstances of the actual or threatened attack; local custom and belief; the care, skill and competence with which the act was performed; an honest belief held by the doer of the act that the act would lead to benefits to the animal, to the owner of the animal or to society generally. These criteria indicate that cruelty occurs when pain has been caused by an omission to remedy or alleviate the effects of a positive act, by the doing of the act, where the act or omission has been done intentionally or as the result of negligence, or where the pain is unnecessary and unjustified and the doer of the act knows that the act is unnecessary and unjustifiable.

The South African Veterinary Association: glimpses from 75 years of service to veterinary science

The South African Veterinary Association originated with the formation of the Transvaal Veterinary Medical Association in 1903. The amalgamation of the three existing provincial associations under a joint constitution in 1920 formed a body representing the veterinary profession in the whole of South Africa. Throughout the past 75 years the SAVA has served as representative for the diversity of interests of the profession. The aims and major contributions of the Association, past and present, as well as the challenges of the future, are outlined.