Group of Conference Attendees

Abstract

This conference was also known as "The Southwest Conference on Diseases in Nature Transmissible to Man" or at times by the founders name, The James Steele Conference on Diseases in Nature Transmissible to Man. Its origins came about in January of 1941 through the endevors of the Texas Department of Health and its varies units and directors. The purpose of this seminar was to provide continuing education in the areas of clinical laboratory techniques and microbiology to local technicians. By 1943, the meeting had grown both in size and scope and was given the name Conference on Diseases of Animals Transmissible to Man, and Texas A&M University was added to the list of sponsors. From 1951 through 2006, the conference met annually, becoming a premiere conference for the presentation of papers related to the emergence and re-emergence of zoonotic diseases and into areas of biological warfare, now referred to as bioterrorism. At the business meeting at the end of the 2006 conference, the membership voted unanimously to change the name of the conference to the James H. Steele Conference on Diseases in Nature Transmissible to Man to honor his contributions to veterinary public health and to the creation and continued success of this conference. In the mid 1960’s, the then Texas Department of Health Laboratory gave up ownership of the conference to the organization itself. The TDH Laboratory assigned one individual to serve as conference coordinator, responsible for finding suitable venues for the conferences and recruiting local arrangement committees. In 1987, this duty fell to members of the TDH Zoonosis Control Branch, where it has remained. [https://sites.google.com/site/diseasesinnature/dinhistory]