Alice Catherine Evans

                                 ALICE CATHERINE EVANS

 

EARLY YEARS:

                                             Alice Catherine Evans was a famous American microbiologist who made one of the most important discoveries of 20th century . She was born on January 19 , 1881 at Neath , Bradford Country , Pennsylvania. Her parents were William Howell , a Teacher and also a Farmer and Anne B. Evans , a teacher. She was taught by her parents in her childhood and attended room school house in Neath with best grades . In 1886 , she suffered from Scarlet fever as like as her brother, Morgan. Scarlet Fever which is nowadays known as Scarlatina . It is caused by Group - A Streptococcus bacteria . This bacteria cause Strep - throat disease . The person suffering from this disease have the symptoms of Rashes  and Red tongue .

''Everything turns perfect when we dare to live our dreams''

EDUCATION AND CAREER:

    Alice Catherine Evans participated on women's Basketball team which was held at Susquehanna Collegiate Institute in Towanda . It is a national liberal arts university which focus on Intellectual development . Without any other choices , she started her carer in 1901  as an elementary school teacher . But , she was not satisfied with her job . After four years of teaching , she took free classes to rural teachers at Cornell University . While taking that class , Alice also took a basic course in Agricultural College ,  which started her interest in Bacteriology . After her Scholarship , she earned B. S in bacteriology from Cornell University in 1909 and master of science degree in same field from university of Wisconsin in 1910 . In her memoirs , Alice describes her childhood and education :

        ''Until my academic education education was completed I seemed never to have an opportunity to make a choice in matters concerning my future. I always stepped into the only suitable opening I could  see on my horizon''

WORK AND INVENTIONS:

        In 1913 ,she moved to Washington D.C. and served as bacteriologist technician in a team to isolate the source of a contamination of raw cow's milk. In 1918 ,Evan joined   the United States Public Health Service by director George McCoy . There she involved  in the study of Meningitis. So she couldn't able to continue her research study in milk.She joined the dairy division at the US department of Agriculture Bureau of animal husbandry. She worked in the department of refining process which involves the manufacturing of cheese and butter  for improved flavour in 1913. She was the first women to have the permanent appointment  in the division of US department of agriculture.In 1918, through the pioneering research,she was  able to show that drinking raw (unpasteurized) milk could transmit bacterium , Bacillus abortus  , causing Brucellosis.

 

             Brucellosis which is also known as undulant fever, rock fever, cyprus fever, malta fever, Gibraltar fever, bang's disease. This disease caused from domestic farm animals to humans. So, she initiated  the pasteurization of  milk to effectively kill disease causing bacterium. Her findings and recommendation were not taken seriously by other scientist ,veterinarians and doctors. They were dubious at her research. She had a great opposition from bacteriologist  Theobald Smith , who  had been one of the first scientist  to discover the bacteria in milk and warn about its possible health implications. They were not ready to believe her    for   two reasons     :                       

•    Because she was a women     
•     And had no doctorate

     she said,

               

                 ''The idea of drinking milk contaminated with bacteria 

                     capable of causing disease in animals was distasteful to me''

       

                 

                    The professional industry where she was working also refused her statement that ''the raw milk should be pasteurized to safe human health'' . In 1922, Alice itself suffered from Brucellosis while working with the pathogen in her laboratory . Easily aerosolized and with a very small infectious dose, Brucella is one of the most common causes of LAIs today , along with  salmonella and shigella. Like Evan , many others who researched the organism became ill with Brucellosis . Her condition was chronic , plaguing her on and off for almost 23 years. Late 1920's , German ,Italy , Holland, Austria positively confirmed her findings. By 1930's , US government approved and enacted pasteurization law of Alice. They came to understand the serious issue that it is not only farmer's problem but also a thereat to dairy farm and food supply industry. 

                                  

CHRONOLOGY:

 

               1928          - First  women president of society of American Bacteriologist

          1925-1931 -    member of committee on infectious abortion

                 1930         -  Delicate two international microbiological  congress in Paris, France

                 1934       -  women's medical college of Pennsylvania awarded her an honorary degree  in medicine

                 1936         -  Received honorary doctorate of science degree  from university of Wisconsin   & Wilson college in Chambersburg , Pennsylvania

          1945-1957 -     honorary president of International American Committee on Brucellosis

                 1975         - Became honorary member of American Society For Microbiology

                 1966         -  Denounced as unconstitutional the regulation that requires the disclosure     of  communist affiliation in the application of public case incidents

DEATH:

    

            Evan retired in 1945 from the National  Institute of Health . Never one to back down on her beliefs , Evans protested in 1966, at the age of 85 , that the disclaimer of communist affiliation on medicare application violated her right of free speech. After retirement in 1945, Evans lectured frequently on female career development, emphasizing scientific career. Evans discovery was finally justified when a renowned scientist wrote an article about the danger of raw milk during pregnancy for Ladies Home journal. Evan suffered a stroke at the age of 94 and died on September 5, 1975. Evan is known as ''mother of pasteurization''.We are grateful for the legacy left by Alice Catherine Evans,a true ACE of microbiology.

"It's the start of a new era , when people are finally ready to embrace the microbial world"

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Reference:

        1.   ^Windsor , Laura Lynn (2002).women in medicine

        2.    Medicine : Bacteriologist  January 9,1928.Archived from the original on October 1,2013.retrived November 26,2009

        3.    Alice Evans  National Women's Hall of Fame . retrived January 25,2020