An Impossible Undertaking: The Eradication of Bovine Tuberculosis in the United States

Alan Olmstead and Paul Rhode

The Journal of Economic History, 2004, vol. 64, issue 3, 734-772

Abstract: In 1917, after scientific breakthroughs allowed for the early detection of bovine tuberculosis, the USDA began a campaign to eradicate the disease. Agents inspected nearly every cattle farm in the country and condemned roughly 4 million reactors to slaughter without full compensation. This article analyzes how the eradication program functioned, how incentives were aligned to ensure widespread participation without excessive moral hazard problems, and why the United States led most European nations in controlling the disease. The U.S. campaign was a spectacular success, reducing human suffering and death and yielding benefits in the farm sector alone that exceeded ten times the cost.

Date: 2004
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