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

Abstract

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.