[Switzerland as a "Veterinary Area": The development of federal veterinary policy, A.D. 941 - 1886.]

The earliest recorded animal disease notification on the territory of contemporary Switzerland is found in the chronicles of the monastery of St. Gall and dates back to A.D. 941. Disease control in Switzerland began in medieval towns, with the regulation of livestock and the meat trade. Later, there were attempts to keep entire small areas such as valleys free of animal epidemics. Because livestock tended to be transported in one direction only - away from rural areas for sale in towns and for export - disease in animal-raising areas usually did not spread very far. Albrecht von Haller's epidemiological research from 1773 established the fundamentals of effective disease control. The cantons introduced extensive measures for protecting their territories on the basis of animal transport controls. With the development of the railways and the international livestock trade around 1850, the risk of animal epidemics increased considerably, leading to the need for measures on national and international levels. The first federal law on animal disease control was introduced in Switzerland in 1872, thus creating a nation-wide "veterinary area". In 1886 the law was amended to include mandatory controls of imported livestock and meat by a newly-created border veterinary service.