Interés veterinario por las enfermedades de transmisión infecciosas en los zoológicos en el s.XIX

Resumo

During the 19th century, observations and studies on various infectious diseaseswere carried out in different European zoos by human doctors and veterinarians. Theyfocused on symptomatology and transmissibility, especially those diseases with apotentially zoonotic character. Experiments were promoted to try todemonstrate the transmission of diseases from one species to another and theirsusceptibility. These experiments included the feeding of meat from sick animals orthe use of fomites, although sometimes the inoculation of one species to another wascarried out directly. Studies were also carried out on the epidemiology of diseases suchas tuberculosis or scabies.The objective was to improve sanitary control and preventive medicine, trying toestablish whether the sanitary restrictions of the moment were sufficient or whetherthey should be extended to other species, including wild species.This information was collected in specialized medical and veterinary journals andbulletins, as well as in handbooks and compendiums of naturalists and zoologists. Thiscommunication addresses the importance of zoos for these studies, as they were anideal environment for these observations, in which very diverse species coexisted inthe same environment and close contact with humans.Research carried out within the framework of the R+D+i 2020 call project withreference PID2020-112514GB-C21.