Healing the Herds: Disease, Livestock Economies, and the Globalization of Veterinary Medicine

Conclusion

Conclusion Karen฀Brown CONTRIBUTORS฀TO฀this฀volume฀have฀described฀a฀number฀of฀important฀ case฀studies฀from฀Europe,฀North฀America,฀Africa,฀Asia,฀and฀Australasia.฀ Collectively,฀they฀have฀explored฀the฀gradual฀professionalization฀of฀veterinary ฀services฀as฀a฀result฀of฀developments฀in฀science฀and฀technology฀and฀the฀ growing฀powers฀of฀the฀state,฀as฀well฀as฀the฀emergence฀of฀veterinary฀departments ฀either฀in฀response฀to฀economic฀opportunities฀and/or฀the฀impact฀of฀ devastating฀epizootics฀such฀as฀rinderpest.฀In฀addition,฀some฀of฀the฀authors฀ have฀ looked฀ at฀ the฀ initiatives฀ of฀ farmers฀ and฀ pastoralists฀ whose฀ understandings ฀of฀the฀disease฀environment฀were฀and฀continue฀to฀be฀based฀on฀individual ฀observation,฀backed฀by฀generations฀of฀practical฀experience฀in฀the฀ field.฀At฀times,฀local฀knowledge฀was฀at฀odds฀with฀the฀aims฀and฀directives฀of฀ the฀official veterinary฀establishment.฀For฀many฀livestock฀owners,฀veterinary฀ incursions฀were฀deemed฀of฀little฀use฀unless฀they฀resulted฀in฀the฀ostensible฀ saving฀of฀animal฀lives,฀produced฀a฀notable฀increase฀in฀profits,฀or฀were฀compatible ฀with฀existing฀agricultural฀and฀labor฀practices.฀With฀the฀exception฀ of฀the฀chapters฀by฀Dominik฀Hünniger฀and฀Peter฀Koolmees,฀the฀histori- 270฀฀|฀฀฀Karen฀Brown cal฀time฀frame฀has฀been฀heavily฀centered฀on฀the฀nineteenth฀and฀twentieth฀ centuries,฀when฀there฀was฀a฀shift฀in฀Western฀approaches฀to฀the฀etiology฀of฀ diseases,฀brought฀about฀by฀the฀growing฀ascendancy฀of฀germ฀theories.฀These฀ changes฀occurred฀contemporaneously฀with฀the฀expansion฀of฀centralized฀ political฀control฀in฀Europe,฀North฀America,฀and฀some฀European฀colonies,฀ facilitating฀the฀emergence฀of฀veterinary฀departments฀as฀adjuncts฀of฀modernizing ฀states.฀The฀chapters฀also฀showed฀that฀tensions฀abounded฀between฀ promoters฀of฀Western,฀technical฀biomedical฀science฀and฀guardians฀of฀folk฀ knowledge,฀between฀governments฀and฀populace,฀between฀colonial฀rulers฀ and฀their฀subjects. ฀ Together฀these฀chapters฀make฀a฀significant contribution฀to฀the฀existing ฀historiography฀on฀veterinary฀science฀and฀livestock฀economies,฀which฀as฀ the฀introduction฀revealed,฀is฀rather฀slim.฀They฀point฀the฀way฀to฀a฀range฀of฀ potential฀topics฀for฀further฀study฀and฀provide฀a฀baseline฀for฀comparative฀ research฀on฀a฀number฀of฀diseases฀and฀themes.฀Drawing฀upon฀this฀collection ฀and฀some฀of฀the฀recent฀literature฀in฀the฀history฀of฀human฀medicine,฀I฀ will฀consider฀some฀of฀the฀many฀possible฀ways฀forward. ฀ A฀cursory฀glance฀at฀the฀contents฀list฀alone฀invokes฀three฀key฀observations :฀the฀absence฀of฀Latin฀America;฀the฀prominence฀of฀rinderpest฀as฀a฀ catalyst฀for฀veterinary฀interventions฀and฀reforms;฀and฀the฀dominance฀of฀ the฀nineteenth฀and฀twentieth฀centuries.฀But฀as฀Hünniger฀and฀Koolmees฀ have฀shown,฀it฀is฀possible฀to฀find documents฀relating฀to฀earlier฀periods,฀at฀ least฀for฀western฀Europe.฀Further฀research฀in฀this฀field฀could฀unearth฀some฀ interesting฀revelations฀about฀the฀nature฀and฀impact฀of฀disease฀on฀livestock฀ economies,฀the฀part฀played฀by฀cross-border฀trade฀and฀warfare฀in฀the฀dissemination ฀of฀epizootics,฀popular฀understandings฀and฀responses฀to฀animal฀ infections,฀and฀limits฀to฀the฀authority฀of฀medieval฀and฀early฀modern฀states.฀ Latin฀America,฀with฀its฀important฀cattle฀economy,฀has฀enormous฀potential฀ for฀research.฀This฀is฀especially฀so฀as,฀along฀with฀the฀Caribbean,฀it฀has฀some฀ unique฀epidemiological฀features,฀such฀as฀the฀transmission฀of฀paralytic฀rabies ฀by฀vampire฀bats,฀which฀Rita฀Pemberton฀referred฀to฀in฀her฀contribution฀ on฀Trinidad฀and฀Tobago.฀More฀work฀on฀rinderpest฀would฀be฀equally฀rewarding ฀because฀of฀its฀transcontinental฀spread฀through฀trade,฀warfare,฀and฀ colonialism.฀The฀rinderpest฀panzootic฀of฀the฀late฀nineteenth฀century,฀for฀ example,฀could฀be฀explored฀in฀a฀global฀context฀that฀examines฀how฀and฀why฀ diseases฀cross฀continents฀and฀how฀people฀on฀the฀spot฀responded฀to฀livestock฀ crises฀in฀different฀parts฀of฀the฀world.฀Myron฀Echenberg’s฀recent฀publication ฀on฀the฀bubonic฀plague฀pandemic,฀which฀was฀almost฀concurrent฀with฀ this฀rinderpest฀panzootic,฀mirrors฀some฀of฀the฀ideas฀and฀challenges฀that฀ surrounded฀the฀spread฀of฀rinderpest฀and฀provides฀an฀interesting฀example฀ Conclusion฀฀฀|฀271 of฀a฀historiographic฀approach฀that฀could฀be฀adapted฀for฀a฀monograph฀on฀a฀ livestock฀disease.1 ฀ Moving฀from฀the฀contents฀page฀to฀the฀chapters฀themselves,฀a฀notable฀ omission฀is฀the฀question฀of฀gender.฀This฀book฀is฀about฀men:฀male฀livestock฀ owners฀and฀traders,฀male฀responses฀to฀livestock฀diseases,฀male฀scientists,฀ not฀to฀mention฀male-dominated฀governments฀and฀veterinary฀departments.฀ Far฀more฀historical฀research฀needs฀to฀be฀carried฀out฀into฀the฀role฀of฀women฀ in฀livestock฀economies฀and฀how฀this฀varied฀from฀place฀to฀place฀and฀altered฀ over฀time.฀In฀many฀African฀societies,฀for฀example,฀rural฀women฀had฀a฀very฀ specialized฀knowledge฀of฀medicinal฀plants฀and฀might฀have฀contributed฀to฀ the฀development฀of฀local฀pharmacopoeia฀for฀the฀treatment฀of฀animals.฀Colonialism ฀also฀had฀a฀marked...