Document Detail


The perfect food and the filth disease: milk-borne typhoid and epidemiological practice in late Victorian Britain.
MedLine Citation:
PMID:  20231160     Owner:  NLM     Status:  In-Process    
Abstract/OtherAbstract:
This article explores the initial set of epidemiological investigations in Victorian Britain that linked typhoid fever to milk from dairy cattle. Because Victorian epidemiologists first recognized the milk-borne route in outbreaks of typhoid fever, these investigations served as a model for later studies of milk-borne scarlet fever, diphtheria, and perhaps tuberculosis. By focusing on epidemiological practices conducted by Medical Inspectors at the Medical Department of the Local Government Board and Medical Officers of Health, I show that Victorian epidemiology was committed to field-based, observational methods that defined the professional nature of the discipline and its theories and practices. Epidemiological investigations of milk-borne typhoid heated up several important public health debates in the second half of the nineteenth century, and demonstrate how Victorian epidemiology was not solely wedded to examining population studies using statistical methods, as historians have typically argued, but also relied on observational case-tracing in individuals, animals, and even environments.
Authors:
Jacob Steere-Williams
Publication Detail:
Type:  Journal Article     Date:  2010-03-15
Journal Detail:
Title:  Journal of the history of medicine and allied sciences     Volume:  65     ISSN:  1468-4373     ISO Abbreviation:  J Hist Med Allied Sci     Publication Date:  2010 Oct 
Date Detail:
Created Date:  2010-10-06     Completed Date:  -     Revised Date:  -    
Medline Journal Info:
Nlm Unique ID:  0413415     Medline TA:  J Hist Med Allied Sci     Country:  England    
Other Details:
Languages:  eng     Pagination:  514-45     Citation Subset:  IM; Q    
Affiliation:
Program in the History of Medicine and Allied Sciences, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55455, USA. will2019@umn.edu
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