Plant quarantine theory and practice
Plant quarantine laws, regulations and services are based on national and international agreements, which evolved in different parts of the world during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, as well as on agricultural and economic needs. Obviously, there exists historical background upon which is based the creatían of a plant quarantine system. The term IIquarantine" is derived froID the latín word IIquarantumll meaning forty; that is to say, a forty day periodo In other languages (Italian: quarantina; French: quarante; Spanish: cuarentena) both the source and the meaning are the same . lt originally applied to the period of detention for ships arriving from countries subject to epidemic diseases such as bubonic plague, cholera and yellow fever, with the shiplS crew and passengers being cornpelled to rernain isolated on board long enough to permit latent cases of disease to develop and be detected before any persons were allowed to land. The fixing of the isolation period at 40 days appears to have had a traditional rather than a factual background. In early times. the number 40 had acquired sorne special emphasis. For exarnple, there were 40 days and nights of rain in connection with the deluge; the Israelites spent 40 years in the wilderness; there are 40 days of Lent; and the Sto Swithin legend relates to 40 days of rain. We may assurnethat the intent of early health authorities was to establish an adequate period and the afore-rnentioned served as a basis for the length of the detention periodo If this is true, the term "quarantinell must be interpreted rnerely as an extended and possibly vaguely fixed period rather than as a definite time based on scientific knowledge. However, considering the lack of knowledge concerning the transmission or treatment of epidemic diseases at this time, this period of detention was a practical rneasure based on necessity.
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| Format: | Texto biblioteca |
| Language: | eng |
| Published: |
San Salvador, Salvador Organismo Internacional Regional de Sanidad Agropecuaria
1991
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| Subjects: | Cuarentena de plantas, Plagas agrícolas, Medidas fitosanitarias, Fitopatología, |
| Online Access: | http://www.oirsa.org/aplicaciones/subidoarchivos/bibliotecavirtual/plantquarentinetheoryandpractice.pdf |
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