Defying Infection: Argentine Foot-and-Mouth Disease Policy, 1900-1930

Abstract

Listen

Translate article

In light of the rapid late nineteenth century expansion of the cattle sector in Argentina, and a surge in export-led growth before World War I, Argentines believed that growing beef exports would continue to stimulate the Argentine economy in the post-war years. But between 1900 and 1930, Foot-and-Mouth disease (F.M.) became endemic in the countryside and in municipal slaughterhouses. The virus diminished the productivity of Argentina's most important economic sector and, as a result of a 1926 United States sanitary ban against Argentine chilled and frozen meat, helped dash Argentine hopes for ongoing economic expansion. The Argentine response to F.M. remains an area of notable and lasting controversy in the history of Argentine-United States affairs. Bilateral relations were embittered for more than two decades by Argentine accusations that the sanitary ban was a disingenuous ploy to exclude Argentine beef from American markets, and by American counter­criticisms that Argentine beef was tainted. This article documents the appearance and spread of F.M. in Argentina, the evolution of Argentine F.M. policy between 1900 and 1930, and the factors that explain that policy. These include uncertainty in the international scientific community on the pathogenesis and epidemiology of F.M., Argentine resentment over growing American commercial protectionism after 1920, and the distinct responses of Great Britain and the United States to the threat of F.M. Bilateral tensions caused by the conflict over F.M. had a range of lasting ramifications for Argentine foreign affairs. These include a decision to resume close trade relations with Great Britain after 1930 and the inability of Argentina and the United States to reach agreement on a most­favoured-nation treaty until 1941, despite over a decade of difficult negotiation.