La santé publique entre peste bovine et choléra: l'émergence des institutions fédérales de contrôle des maladies infectieuses en Suisse (1863-1872)

In Switzerland, federal public health institutions emerged in the mid-1860s to control and prevent outbreaks of infectious diseases. This process of centralization represented a paradigm shift, since powers that were almost exclusively in the hands of cantonal gover- nments were gradually handed over to the Swiss Confederation. Although animal diseases (epizootics) and human diseases (epidemics) were considered together in the constitu- tion of 1848, federal authorities decided to deal with them separately in 1866. Institutionalisation first concerned epizootics, mainly to avoid the spread of rinderpest (cattle plague) by rail transport - the Epizootics Act was passed in 1872. As for epidemics, despite major debates on cholera and smallpox, institutionalisation met resistance from medical experts and cantonal governments who succeeded in delaying the process.