EARLY METHODS OF SURVEILLANCE AND CONTROL FOR FOOT AND MONTH DISEASE

From the many existing documents on the history of Foot and Mouth Dise ase, it is possible to describe with precision the practical measures adopted for disease surveillance and control from antiquity up to the XIXth Century. Surveillance was based on diagnosis, past mortem examin ation, animal inoculation, and also on the knowledge of the conditions under which infection occurred: aetiology and pathogenesis, contagios ity and mode of infection, susceptible species, virulent material, inc ubation period, etc. The historical facts are assembled and compared, with comments on each of these points. Control was based upon the appl ication of general disease control measures, attempts at vaccination a nd treatment. A study of these procedures makes it possible to compare their efficacy and to describe the major steps of their implementatio n.