Editing Anthrax (section)

=== First vaccination ===
{{Further|Anthrax vaccines}}
[[File:Pasteur inoculating sheep against anthrax. Wellcome L0003758.jpg|thumb|200px|Louis Pasteur inoculating sheep against anthrax]]

Anthrax posed a major economic challenge in [[France]] and elsewhere during the 19th century. Horses, cattle, and sheep were particularly vulnerable, and national funds were set aside to investigate the production of a [[vaccine]]. French scientist [[Louis Pasteur]] was charged with the production of a vaccine, following his successful work in developing methods that helped to protect the important wine and silk industries.<ref name="Jones 2010">{{cite book| vauthors = Jones S |title=Death in a Small Package: A Short History of Anthrax|date=2010|publisher=Johns Hopkins University Press|location=Baltimore}}</ref>

In May 1881, Pasteur – in collaboration with his assistants [[Jean Joseph Henri Toussaint|Jean-Joseph Henri Toussaint]], [[Pierre Paul Émile Roux|Émile Roux]] and others – performed a public experiment at [[Pouilly-le-Fort]] to demonstrate his concept of vaccination. He prepared two groups of 25 [[sheep]], one [[goat]], and several [[cow|cattle]]. The animals of one group were twice injected with an anthrax vaccine prepared by Pasteur, at an interval of 15 days; the control group was left unvaccinated. Thirty days after the first injection, both groups were injected with a culture of live anthrax bacteria. All the animals in the unvaccinated group died, while all of the animals in the vaccinated group survived.<ref>{{cite book | vauthors = Decker J |title=Deadly Diseases and Epidemics, Anthrax |publisher=Chelesa House Publishers |year=2003 |isbn=978-0-7910-7302-5 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/anthraxdeadlydis00jane/page/27 27–28] |url=https://archive.org/details/anthraxdeadlydis00jane/page/27 }}</ref>

After this apparent triumph, which was widely reported in the local, national, and international press, Pasteur made strenuous efforts to export the vaccine beyond France. He used his celebrity status to establish Pasteur Institutes across Europe and Asia, and his nephew, [[Adrien Loir]], travelled to [[Australia]] in 1888 to try to introduce the vaccine to combat anthrax in [[New South Wales]].<ref name="Geison 2014">{{cite book | vauthors = Geison G |title=The Private Science of Louis Pasteur|date=2014|publisher=Princeton University Press}}</ref> Ultimately, the vaccine was unsuccessful in the challenging climate of rural Australia, and it was soon superseded by a more robust version developed by local researchers [[John Gunn (researcher)|John Gunn]] and [[John McGarvie Smith]].<ref name="Stark 2012">{{cite journal| vauthors = Stark J |title=Anthrax and Australia in a Global Context: The International Exchange of Theories and Practices with Britain and France, c. 1850–1920|journal=Health and History|date=2012|volume=14|issue=2|pages=1–25 |doi=10.5401/healthhist.14.2.0001|s2cid=142036883 }}</ref>

The [[Anthrax vaccine adsorbed|human vaccine for anthrax]] became available in 1954. This was a cell-free vaccine instead of the live-cell Pasteur-style vaccine used for veterinary purposes. An improved cell-free vaccine became available in 1970.<ref>{{cite web | url = https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/vpd-vac/anthrax/downloads/ed-vpd2006-anthrax.ppt | title = Anthrax and Anthrax Vaccine – Epidemiology and Prevention of Vaccine-Preventable Diseases | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120824060412/http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/vpd-vac/anthrax/downloads/ed-vpd2006-anthrax.ppt | archive-date=24 August 2012 | work = National Immunization Program | publisher = Centers for Disease Control and Prevention | date = January 2006 }}</ref>