A J Williams--a tropical veterinary pioneer

Abstract

Many of the early developments in human and veterinary medicine were brought about by members of the military medical and veterinary services. This is particularly true of tropical diseases. For example, the organism Trypanosoma evansi reminds us that, in 1880, Colonel Griffith Evans MD FRCVS, of the Army Veterinary Service, postulated the pathogenicity of the trypanosome and its spread by fly bites. Initially the idea was bluntly rejected by his military medical superiors. It was largely the study of his report by Koch and Pasteur that led to Evans' recognition as discoverer of the pathogenicity of the trypanosome1—truly a landmark in tropical medicine. Recently, when visiting a veterinary colleague, I met a retired colonel of the Royal Marines whose grandfather had been Director of Veterinary Services in India 1928–1932. He too, I found, made striking contributions to tropical veterinary medicine.