Recent history of Veterinary Immunology in Australia

This Commentary article reviews the history of veterinary immunology in Australia from the 1980s and discusses the key people and areas of research during this period.

Royal Army Veterinary Corps' history

Reviewed by Paul Watkins, a veterinary surgeon with an interest in veterinary and medical history, who has published widely on these areas.

John Palmer, Earl of Selborne

Although not a vet, Lord Selborne had an extensive influence on the veterinary profession.

Brian Theodore Wicks

As a vet working in mixed practice, he relished the camaraderie of working with colleagues, farmers and clients, and developed a special interest in cattle fertility. He was considered to be a ray of sunshine.

Comparative Neuropathology (1962): Attending to Neuropathologies Across Multiple Species

This paper takes as its subject Comparative Neuropathology (1962), arguing that the volume illustrates the interlocking cultures of veterinary medicine, human medicine, and laboratory-based biological sciences after the Second World War. The project amassed cases of domestic, experimental, and wild animals, identified species-specific conditions, and evaluated the vulnerabilities of the nervous system to disease and trauma. The collection of ill ruminants, poisoned cats, and injured dogs built on earlier traditions of comparative medicine, but also reflected the turn to biological principles to explain medical conditions, increased industry and military funding for the biomedical sciences, and changes in veterinary practice. Using Comparative Neuropathology as a lens, this paper probes the actors, affiliations, and frameworks that wrestled with new species of neurological patients, newly exposed vulnerabilities of the nervous system, and the emergence of new neurological sciences, casting new light on the heterogenous landscape of the emergent neurosciences and mid-twentieth-century efforts to entwine human and veterinary medicine.

Veterinarians at the Connaught Medical Research Laboratories, 1931-72

This study traces the changing mission of the University of Toronto's Connaught Medical Research Laboratories regarding the health of animals. We argue that the early work of Connaught's veterinarians in the 1930s and 1940s focused on the care for experimental animals as well as lending veterinary knowledge to problems in human medicine and public health. This gave way to a more direct focus on veterinary products after the Second World War. Connaught was motivated to enter the veterinary field in part to capitalize upon the growing market for veterinary medicines. It met with mixed success in this endeavour. Work was initially focused on livestock medicines and later expanded into products for companion animals, reflecting broader shifts in the veterinary profession and the economic value of animals during the 20^th century.

Roderick S. F. Campbell

With a vital role in developing veterinary education in Australia, he became one of the country's most outstanding veterinarians.

Ian Cunningham

A gifted scientist and a natural leader, Ian Cunningham was one of Scotland's pre-eminent biological scientists; he also directed and chaired a number of key research and educational organisations.

William Howard Guest Rees

A distinguished vet who became the UK's chief veterinary officer, dealing with issues such as salmonella in eggs and bovine spongiform encephalopathy. His passions were his family and rugby.

Michael Pittaway

A widely respected veterinary surgeon and an innovator within the profession, Michael Pittaway was also a man of great charm and huge energy, who applied his skills across a wide range of interests.

Roger Barry Clampitt

A clinical pathologist whose outstanding contribution to the profession was to invent the first reliable clinical biochemistry analyser for use in practice.

Alistair William MacDonald

A devoted family man and churchgoer, Alistair MacDonald was a meticulous vet with a great sense of humour. Having served in the RAF during the Second World War, he had plenty of stories to tell.

George Rafferty

A well-respected, understanding veterinary surgeon who was as comfortable with his clients as with the many species of animals he treated. He was Deputy Lord Lieutenant for Inverness-shire and was awarded an MBE for his services to agriculture.

Megan Brannigan

An unconventional boss with an astonishing sense of humour, Megan welcomed a diverse team into her practices. She was a humanist, feminist and connoisseur of fine food and wine.

Michael Alan Wright

Michael Wright was a respected vet who had great pride in his profession.

John Alexander MacKenzie

John MacKenzie was a well-liked veterinary officer with a wry sense of humour, who could always be relied on to solve problems.

Mary-Elizabeth Raw

Diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in her 20s, Mary-Elizabeth became severely disabled; she was never confined by her illness and travelled widely. She won 'Mastermind' in 1989, scoring '40 and no passes'.

Colin Berkeley Bewsher

A mixed practitioner who enjoyed many sports. An 'inspirational, supportive and caring boss', and described by friends as a true gentleman.

From glanders to globulins: A study in comparative medicine

The anti-globulin test was described in 1945, and ever since has been synonymous with the lead author, Robin Coombs, a young veterinary surgeon, at that time embarking on a career in immunological research. This was marked by a number of important contributions in the field, including the description and categorisation of hypersensitivity reactions, co-authored with Philip Gell. Together they wrote the classical text, Clinical Aspects of Immunology, which has been updated and republished over the ensuing 50 years. Although Robin Coombs is best remembered for his contributions to medical immunology, he made a number of significant early advances in the field of veterinary immunology.

Entangled Histories: German Veterinary Medicine, c.1770-1900

Medical historians have recently become interested in the veterinary past, investigating the development of animal health in countries such as France, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and the United States. An appreciation of the German context, however, is still lacking - a gap in the knowledge that the present article seeks to fill. Providing a critical interpretation of the evolution of the veterinary profession, this investigation explains why veterinary and medical spheres intersected, drifted apart, then came back together; it also accounts for the stark differences in the position of veterinarians in Germany and Britain. Emphasis is placed on how diverse traditions, interests and conceptualisations of animal health shaped the German veterinary profession, conditioned its field of operation, influenced its choice of animals and diseases, and dictated the speed of reform. Due to a state-oriented model of professionalisation, veterinarians became more enthusiastic about public service than private practice, perceiving themselves to be alongside doctors and scientists in status, rather than next to animal healers or manual labourers. Building on their expertise in epizootics, veterinarians became involved in zoonoses, following outbreaks of trichinosis. They achieved a dominant position in meat hygiene by refashioning abattoirs into sites for the construction of veterinary knowledge. Later, bovine tuberculosis helped veterinarians cement this position, successfully showcasing their expertise and contribution to society by saving as much meat as possible from diseased livestock. Ultimately, this article shows how veterinarians were heavily 'entangled' with the fields of medicine, food, agriculture and the military.

From One Medicine to Two: The Evolving Relationship between Human and Veterinary Medicine in England, 1791-1835

This article offers a novel perspective on the evolving identities and relationships of human medicine and veterinary medicine in England during the decades that followed the 1791 foundation of the London Veterinary College. Contrary to the impressions conveyed by both medical and veterinary historians, it reveals that veterinary medicine, as initially defined, taught and studied at the college, was not a domain apart from human medicine but rather was continuous with it. It then shows how this social, cultural, and epistemological continuity fractured over the period 1815 to 1835. Under the impetus of a movement for medical reform, veterinarians began to advance an alternative vision of their field as an autonomous, independent domain. They developed their own societies and journals and a uniquely veterinary epistemology that was rooted in the experiences of veterinary practice. In this way, "one medicine" became "two," and the professions began to assume their modern forms and relations.

Emergence of Veterinary Parasitology in the United States: Maurice C. Hall and the Bureau of Animal Industry

By 1883 a Veterinary Division had been established within the United States Department of Agriculture, itself established in 1862. Federal concern about animal health in the U.S.A. emerged as early as 1865 when Congress adopted regulations aimed at controlling importation of livestock. It was not until 1884 that the Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI) was formally created by Act of Congress, and shortly after that the Zoological Laboratory was established and assigned responsibility for study of parasites and the diseases they produce in animals. Classically trained parasitologists working in USDA's BAI soon became internationally recognized for their contributions to basic research and development of programs for prevention and control of parasitic diseases. Leadership by a series of BAI-employed parasitologists led to the emergence of veterinary parasitology as a sub-discipline. Maurice C. Hall who served as president of both the American Society of Parasitologists and the American Veterinary Medical Association was a central figure in development of veterinary parasitology in the U.S.A., which flourished in his country and elsewhere today.

A Short History of One Health in the United States

Examination of the history of the One Health idea reveals historical periods of prominence as well as periods of displacement. We trace the waxing and waning of the One Health from 18th century United States through the origins of its current renaissance in the 1960s. European One Health advances are only addressed as background for early developments in the United States. The history of One Health is best appreciated and detailed by examination of the work of its most prominent U.S. based advocates including Benjamin Rush, Adoniram B. Judson, James Law, Daniel Elmer Salmon, K.F. Meyer, Richard E. Shope,James Harlan Steele, and Calvin W Schwabe. Examination of these different One Health-based approaches highlight their value and long-term continuity in solving difficult or intractable medical, veterinary, and public health problems that are optimally addressed with a multidisciplinary perspective.