Resumen de "Vreeselijksten geesel van het menschdom": Erkenning van bovine tuberculose als zoönose en bestrijding daarvan in Nederland
Wasting disease in man was described since the time of Aristotle with such accuracy that today we recognize the description as that of tuberculosis. Many names were given to the disease, phthisis being the most widely known. In the nineteenth century it occurred to European scientists interested in comparative pathology that the clinical and pathological manifestations of the disease in man and animals, particularly cattle, were very similar. The scientific debate started long before the actual cause of the disease was discovered by Koch in 1882. Whether meat and milk from tuberculous animals could harm the health of consumers became a leading issue at national and international meetings and congresses. In the Netherlands, authorities were not convinced nor interested to come forward with strict rules of control. Most debates and attempts were initiated by local commissions. Whenever reports appeared from scientists or state commissions, the suggested measures were often too laborious, time-consuming, and expensive. Unfortunately, at a congress in London Koch changed his mind and now said that bovine tuberculosis was of no harm to man. This agreed with the general medical view that control of human tuberculosis would not benefit from combating bovine tuberculosis. Veterinarians played a crucial role in diagnosing and culling infected animals. Those testing positive were often still in good condition and good milk producers, and were simply sold to other farms in the Netherlands rather than being culled. This led to a shift in the incidence of tuberculosis in various areas rather than a decrease. The real effort to combat tuberculosis only began after the establishment of cooperation between farmers’ organizations and the dairy industry, and the creation in 1919 of a provincial animal health service in Friesland, supported by laboratory diagnostics. Their example prompted other areas of the Netherlands to act similarly, but resulted in another twenty years of commissions, discussions, and withdrawal of plans. After World War II every province developed an animal health service with laboratory support, and all dairy industries, farmers’ organizations, and individual farmers were obliged to cooperate in the battle against animal diseases, starting with tuberculosis. An ambitious plan was created in which farmers and the government shared the costs, and between 1951 and 1956 all farms gradually became free of tuberculosis.
