Veterinary public health and Alexander D. Langmuir.

Alexander Duncan Langmuir was recruited by the late Joseph Mountin, as I (1. H. S.) was after World War II, with the challenge to explore new areas that related to public health. Mountin was a leader who gained fame by challenging the old order and anticipating future needs (1). He foresaw the need for an agency such as the Communicable Disease Center (now the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)) to service the states. In 1942, the Office of Malaria Control in War Areas was established by the Public Health Service in Atlanta, Georgia, to devise methods to reduce the incidence of malaria in our troops. This office also cooperated actively with the states in an intensive campaign to control malaria throughout the South where it was endemic. On January 1, 1946, following the war, a disease investigation and training center, the CDC, replaced the Office of Malaria Control in War Areas. The establishment of the CDC was the fulfillment of Mountin's foresight. He believed that the Public Health Service should have a field office that could provide state health agencies with the technical help of consultants with highly specialized knowledge and skills, and it came to be. Mountin's challenge to me (1. H. S.) in 1945 was succinct: "What are you veterinarians going to do for public health now that the war is over?" Further questioning by Mountin led to an order from him that I should prepare a list of zoonotic/animal diseases that affect human health. The resulting chart (2) inevitably led Mountin to ask what control measures could be put into effect. It was apparent that the epidemiology of most zoonotic diseases was not known, and control was not understood. Mountin summarized the situation by saying, "It appears that we have a lot of