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Title(s): J. Austin Kerr Dr. Kerr Workers in tropical medicine CDC Author(s): Downs, Wilbur G., 1913- Aitken, Thomas H. G. Centers for Disease Control (U.S.) American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene. Publication Date: 1981 Publication Information: [Atlanta, Ga.] : CDC, 1981 Language(s): English Format: Moving image; 030 min.; Sound; Color Subject(s): Kerr, J. Austin, 1900- Malaria - history Tropical Medicine Yellow Fever - history Rights: The National Library of Medicine believes this item to be in the public domain. Identifier(s): See catalog record: 8700057A http://resource.nlm.nih.gov/8700057A

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Part of the Workers in Tropical Medicine series produced by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), this interview with Dr. J. Austin Kerr examines his forty years of work for the Rockefeller Foundation. He was initially stationed in Alabama, but while working in Tennessee, he noted that the prevalence of hookworm in school children related to the presence of sand- or clay-based soil, and began to investigate these associations. In the 1920s, Kerr was asked by Rockefeller to work in Brazil, combating yellow fever in urban areas. He monitored the presence of Aedes eqyptiae mosquitoes, especially near water supplies. In the interview, he is also asked about a viscertome, a device which pierces the abdominal wall to obtain a liver sample. After working for many years in Brazil, helping to eradicate Anopheles, he was posted to Egypt and continued mosquito eradication work there.

Credits: Interviewed by Wilbur G. Downs and Thomas H.G. Aitken.

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