[First municipal sanitary stations in Russia: history and main activities (to the 125th anniversary since foundation)].

First municipal sanitary stations in Russia were founded in 1891 in the cities of Moscow and St. Petersburg. They were financed by municipal public self-governments. With performing essential laboratory tests and studies, stations were an important element of the organization of sanitary inspection in cities. In the article there is considered the history of the creation offirst sanitary stations and main directions of their activity: control in the sphere offood trade and in the sphere of municipal water supply.

[Trichinae, pigs and veterinary public health: The introduction of the microscopic world into the scientific basis for meat inspection (Barcelona, 1870s)]. / Triquinas, cerdos y salud pública veterinaria: la inclusión del mundo microscópico en la base científica de la inspección cárnica (Barcelona, 1870s).

During the second half of the 19th century, Spanish authorities began developing specific programs on the safety of certain foods intended for human consumption. This paper analyses the key features that gave rise to the inclusion of the veterinarian in the administrative structure responsible for safeguarding public health. Among the aspects covered, special focus is put on the relationship between human and animal medicine at a time when growing public alarm in relation to certain zoonoses contributed to shaping the notion of veterinary public health. The appearance of a disease in pigs that was transmissible through the consumption of parasitized meat set the scene for veterinary inspection to be associated with the protection of public health. The outbreaks of trichinosis all over Spain in the 1870's proved the existence of contagium animatum in a pre-bacteriology era, and this led to the introduction of improvements in food inspection. In this sense, microscopic examination of pork products encouraged the modernization of inspection tasks undertaken by veterinarians, which had previously focused on the organoleptic evaluation of meat and fish and on unveiling fraud. The introduction of microscopes was widely accepted and established a watershed between acceptable and unacceptable methods of carrying out the examination of meat. Furthermore, this "technological" method of diagnosis brought veterinary medicine closer to other more prestigious health professions, at least in theory. Among other aspects, the acceptance of trichinae as an exogenous cause of disease contributed to 19th century doctors learning about the idea of pathogenic microorganisms from veterinarians. At a social level, the use of the microscope was seen as a way of preventing the transmission to people of an animal disease that was very much in the public eye at the time. From the political point of view, the process -analysed in this paper from the perspective of veterinarians in Barcelona- allows a glimpse of the contrast between the desire of some Catalan veterinarians to modernize their profession and what was happening in others parts of Spain.

The history of veterinary medicine in Namibia.

Until the middle of the 19th century, very few references exist regarding the occurrence of animal diseases in Namibia. With the introduction of contagious bovine pleuropneumonia (CBPP) in 1859, this picture changed completely and livestock owners implemented various forms of disease control in an effort to contain the spread of this disease and minimise its devastating effects. After the establishment of the colonial administration in 1884, the first animal disease legislation was introduced in 1887 and the first veterinarian, Dr Wilhelm Rickmann, arrived in 1894. CBPP and the outbreak of rinderpest in 1897 necessitated a greatly expanded veterinary infrastructure and the first veterinary laboratory was erected at Gammams near Windhoek in 1897. To prevent the spread of rinderpest, a veterinary cordon line was established, which was the very beginning of the Veterinary Cordon Fence as it is known today. After the First World War, a small but dedicated corps of veterinarians again built up an efficient animal health service in the following decades, with veterinary private practice developing from the mid-1950s. The veterinary profession organised itself in 1947 in the form of a veterinary association and, in 1984, legislation was passed to regulate the veterinary profession by the establishment of the Veterinary Council of Namibia. The outbreak of foot and mouth disease in 1961 was instrumental in the creation of an effective veterinary service, meeting international veterinary standards of quality and performance which are still maintained today.

Power learning or path dependency? Investigating the roots of the European Food Safety Authority.

A key motive for establishing the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) was restoring public confidence in the wake of multiplying food scares and the BSE crisis. Scholars, however, have paid little attention to the actual political and institutional logics that shaped this new organization. This article explores the dynamics underpinning the making of EFSA. We examine the way in which learning and power shaped its organizational architecture. It is demonstrated that the lessons drawn from the past and other models converged on the need to delegate authority to an external agency, but diverged on its mandate, concretely whether or not EFSA should assume risk management responsibilities. In this situation of competitive learning, power and procedural politics conditioned the mandate granted to EFSA. The European Commission, the European Parliament and the European Council shared a common interest in preventing the delegation of regulatory powers to an independent EU agency in food safety policy.

Meat products and consumption culture in the West.

Meat products and consumption culture in the West may be traced back for at least 2,500 years. The dominant cultural source was Greco-Roman, with evidence from archeology, surviving documents and the names of meat cuts. The initial uniformity of meat technology and language in the Roman Empire was lost as national boundaries and languages fragmented. More recently, however, there has been a strong trend back to uniformity in meat cutting and grading. This started in the USA to solve logistical problems associated with long-distance commerce and similar changes occurred with the formation of the EU. Issues such as meat inspection and animal transport have been strongly influenced by the effect of literature on public opinion, which then led to legislated improvements. Innovations in other areas such as meat distribution and preservation had military origins. Meat consumption culture was involved in the early development of language, social grouping and religions.

Creating an agricultural world order: regional plant protection problems and international phytopathology, 1878-1939.

Beginning in 1878 with the International Phylloxera Convention of Berne, international conventions have sought to relieve national agricultural industries from two specific burdens. First, by defining phytosanitary practices to be enforced by national plant protection services, these conventions attempted to prevent the introduction of plant diseases and pests into national territories from which they were previously absent. Second, by standardizing these practices - especially through the design of a unique certificate of inspection - the conventions attempted to eliminate barriers such as quarantines affection international agricultural trade. The succession of phytopathological conventions seemed to epitomize the coalescence of an international community against agricultural pests. What actually coalesced was bio-geopolitics wherein plant pathologists and economic entomologists from North America and the British Empire questioned the so-called internationality of the environmental and economic specificities of continental European agriculture, embodied in "international" conventions. Although an international phenomenon, the dissemination of agricultural pests provided opportunities for cooperation on a strictly regional albeit transnational basis that pitted bio-geopolitical spaces against each other. This article retraces the formation of these spaces by analyzing the deliberations of committees and congresses that gathered to define an international agricultural order based on the means to prevent the spread of plant diseases and pests.

Scientific conviction amidst scientific controversy in the transatlantic livestock and meat trade.

A century before the outbreak of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), Great Britain and North America grappled with pleuro-pneumonia - a disease in cattle that had equally maddening consequences. Towards the end of the 19th century, this condition was at the heart of a transatlantic trade dispute that lasted for decades and attracted the attention of livestock farmers, diplomats, shipping moguls, veterinarians, public health regulators and journalists the world over. Scientific controversy aggravated the situation when there were doubts about the scientific judgment of Privy Council veterinary officials, who were simultaneously conducting disease-diagnosis activities and pushing for tighter regulations at British ports. At this point, William Williams, principal of the New Veterinary College in Edinburgh, waded into this troubled arena. His strong convictions spawned a long-running disagreement with the British Government over the diagnoses of pleuro-pneumonia in cattle imported from the USA and Canada.

City of Fort Worth Consumer Health Division-2004 Crumbine Award Winner.

Historically, the Fort Worth CHD has striven to provide the highest level of service toward the assurance of consumer safety. The burgeoning growth of the city, however, combined with limited resources, has challenged this capability. The response by CHD was to develop a long-term, orchestrated plan to not only maintain but also improve performance. To succeed, a multiyear, integrated plan to develop programming, personnel management, and budgeting was adopted. In accordance with this plan, the past five years have witnessed the cultivation and integration of strategic initiatives into a comprehensive and effective consumer safety program. The program has succeeded in improving inspections, lowering violation recidivism, maintaining compliance, and orchestrating activities to sustain improvements well into the future. CHD is proud of these accomplishments and of its service to the citizens of Fort Worth. In this spirit, CHD is happy to accept the 2004 Crumbine Award, which recognizes the dedication to consumer safety underlying this program.

[Veterinary medicine and public health or better: veterinary public health]. / Diergeneeskunde en Volksgezondheid ofwel Veterinaire Volksgezondheid.

The development of veterinary medicine and its impact on public health are outlined in this overview. In relation to this, we speak of Veterinary Public Health. In 1865, the liberal J.R. Thorbecke initiated the institution of the later independent 'State Supervisory Public Health Inspectorate' was set up in 1920, as a consequence of the Meat Inspection Act of 1919, and became part of the State Supervisory Service. In 1925 the 'Veterinary Public Health Inspectorate', which was part of the Ministry of Public Health, and the 'Veterinary Service', which was part of the Ministry of Agriculture, formed together a so-called 'Personal Union'. This Union came to an end in 1984. During the nearly 60 years of its existence, and especially after the Second World War, the Union has contributed enormously to public health by controlling zoonoses and decreasing chemical contaminants in foodstuffs. In these achievements it has worked in collaboration with veterinary surgeons, meat inspection services, and research institutes such as the National Institute of Public Health and Environment (RIVM), the Institute for Animal Science and Health (ID-Lelystad), and the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine.

Reflections on a career in public health: evolving foodborne pathogens, environmental health, and food safety programs.

Events affecting environmental health and food safety policy, programs and organization and emerging or identified foodborne diseases are reviewed by decade. The review starts with the impact of the 1940s war years on environmental sanitation, as it was called, and disease control. It continues with the intensifying disease surveillance and improvements in sanitation of the 1950s and the improvements in foodborne-disease surveillance and the reorganization of environmental programs of the 1960s. Many previously unknown foodborne pathogens were identified, and more changes in environmental policy came about in the 1970s. Evaluation of foodborne-disease control measures were initiated. In the 1980s, evaluation of major foodborne-disease problems came to the forefront. In the 1990s, the media and consumer groups became aware of foodborne-disease problems and concerned with the environment. The first decade of the 21st century will be faced with continuing dilemmas posed by emerging diseases and will need to provide solutions through the balancing of science, education, and politics.

[Meat inspection in the second half of the 19th Century, sign of progress in applied sciences]. / L'inspection des viandes au cours de la 2e moitié du XIXe siècle, reflet du progrès des sciences appliquées.

Meat inspection as applied science was born in the second half of the 19th Century due to research on intestinal parasites that can be carried over to man by pigs and bovine animals as well as to the study of tuberculosis. It was only during that period that meat inspection was taken over by the veterinarians from expert-butchers. During the industrialization and demographic increase in the urban areas bringing about a great need of meat, a group of professionals denied that meat coming from sick animals and especially from those infected by tuberculosis represents a danger to the population. Epidemiology and bacterial examination finally allowed to solve this problems as well as the development of modern chilling techniques assured a better conservation of the meat. At the end of the 19th Century an important legislation about meat inspection appeared throughout Europe.