A brief historical overview of the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) and its historical relationship with countries in southern Africa

Abstract

The devastating effects of rinderpest in Europe in the 18th century resulted in a call from Professor John Gamgee, of the New Veterinary College of Edinburgh, to the Deans of Veterinary Faculties in Europe for an International Veterinary Congress in Hamburg on 24 March 1863 to ‘define the rules of prevention of contagious and epizootic diseases’ and to elaborate on establishing standardised sanitary legislation. However, in spite of the good intentions of the call from Prof Gamgee, this vision of harmonised intergovernmental control over the spread of animal diseases only materialised 60 years later, when rinderpest was re-introduced into Europe together with ongoing epizootics of tuberculosis, dourine and rabies as an aftermath of World War I. This resulted in a letter dated 1 October 1920, by Mr Ricard (French Minister of Agriculture) to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of France, to convene an international conference to be held in Paris on 21 May 1921 to examine the animal health situation in particular with regard to rinderpest, foot and mouth disease and dourine. The conference also aimed to encourage the exchange of animal health information between countries and to harmonise export health measures. In addition, it was stated by the Ministry that surveillance and control of epizootics are also of interest to public health because of the transmissibility of certain diseases of animals to man. Forty-two States, mainly from Europe, heeded the call that an International Office of Epizootics for the control of infectious animal diseases be created and set up in Paris. It is interesting to note that the participants at the conference initially pleaded strongly that the proposed Organisation should be part of the Office International d’Hygiène. (Read full abstract in the WAHVM 2020 proceedings https://repository.up.ac.za/handle/2263/74403)