Lee Alan Dugatkin is the author of the new book Nary a Horse Left Standing: How a Nineteenth-Century Epidemic Transformed Medicine, Animal Welfare, and the Modern City. His other books include How to Tame a Fox (and Build a Dog). He is a professor of biology at the University of Louisville.
Q: What inspired you to write Nary a Horse Left Standing, and how did you first learn of the Great Epizootic?
A: As a historian of science, I have a predilection for events which have a profound effect on society, but that over time, fade from the historical record. The Great Epizootic is a perfect example.
I first learned about this when I was scanning newspaper articles from the early 1870s. Over and over, I stumbled upon stories about The Great Epizootic. Soon, I realized that there were hundreds upon hundreds of these articles. Then I began digging deeper and was hooked.
Q: How did you research the book, and what did you learn that especially surprised you?
A: Researching this book involved a deep dive into the 1,000+ newspaper articles about The Great Epizootic that were published across the United States and Canada in 1872 and 1873.
There were also many contemporary medical reports written as The Great Epizootic unfolded and shortly thereafter. Personal diaries, contemporary magazine articles and various items in archives from around the country also played a role.
A number of the things I discovered surprised me. For one thing, The Great Epizootic literally shut down metropolises around the United States. Every aspect of city life was disrupted.
It was also a revelation to discover that the medical debates associated with The Great Epizootic drove the final nails into the coffin of what was known as the “miasma theory of disease” and began to solidify the medical community around the germ theory of disease that we now take as a given.
It was also quite surprising to learn the profound effect The Great Epizootic had on spurring on changes to urban transportation: away from living, breathing transportation systems to mechanized ones.
Q: The author and scholar Jonathan Losos said of the book, “Dugatkin’s fascinating account of the long-forgotten horse flu of 1872 remind us that, with animal epidemics increasingly common, we have much to learn from the past.” What do you think of that assessment?
A: Yes, I agree completely with Jonathan on this point. Indeed, at the end of my book, I discuss tantalizing evidence that the equine flu causing The Great Epizootic may have also played an important role in the 1918 influenza epidemic that killed tens of millions of people.
Q: How was the book’s title chosen, and what does it signify for you?
A: I was searching for a way to capture just how devastating The Great Epizootic was and Nary a Horse Left Standing felt right. It also gave off a late 19th century vibe.
Q: What are you working on now?
A: Two books on another passion of mine: how and why we domesticate, as well as undomesticate, the animals that play such a large role in our lives.
Q: Anything else we should know?
A: Hmmm… Well, I’m a passionate collector of antiquarian books, with a penchant for first editions from the 1790s; I’m a lifelong New York Yankees fan (who doesn’t give a hoot about any sport but baseball); and I possess what is, arguably, one of the largest collection of hotel “do not disturb” signs collected from first-hand visits.
--Interview with Deborah Kalb
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