Science and Empire East Coast Fever in Rhodesia and the Transvaal [Hardcover]

The story of East Coast fever, a lethal disease of cattle, and its scientific study.East Coast fever can kill 95% of a herd of cattle in three weeks. The disease was unknown to western science until it was introduced into Rhodesia in 1901. This book describes the social and economic impact, the scientific investigations into it, and the effort to control it.East Coast fever can kill 95% of a herd of cattle in three weeks. The disease was unknown to western science until it was introduced into Rhodesia in 1901. This book describes the social and economic impact, the scientific investigations into it, and the effort to control it.East Coast fever is a lethal disease of cattle caused by a parasite. It affects and distorts lymph cells and causes them to behave like cells in leukemia and lymphoma. The disease was unknown to Western science or to veterinary practice until it was introduced into Rhodesia in 1901. It devastated the cattle-raising and ox-cart dependent transport systems of Rhodesia and South Africa and was not fully brought under control for some fifty years. It remains a serious problem in East and Central Africa. The book describes the social and economic impact of the outbreak, the scientific investigations into it, and the effort to control it. The scientific study of the disease was done in part by the famous bacteriologist, Robert Koch, whose many early errors retarded later investigations, which were far more sound. Much of the text is accessible to the nonspecialist reader and one chapter deals with the present-day understanding of the basic nature of the disease.List of illustrations; Preface; Acknowledgments; 1. Prologue; 2. The places and the players; 3. A new disease?; 4. The search for an expert; 5. Robert Koch in Bulawayo; 6. Joseph Chamberlain; 7. Arnold Theiler, Charles Lounsbury and Duncan Hutcheon; 8. The fight against East Coast fever; 9. The African-owned cattle in Rhodesia; 10. Two more parasites and another new disease; 11. What is lCß