1851

European nations establish International Sanitary Commission in Paris  (absent U.S.) to observe and monitor cholera and other infectious diseases beyond national borders, esp. at eastern borders of Europe.   “Chief among their concerns was to identify the beginnings of an epidemic and enact the necessary quarantine measure to prevent it from entering Europe,” though there was controversy over usefulness of quarantine, e.g., by Britain.  Quarantines were ultimately endorsed for plague, cholera, and yellow fever (Downs, 173-74).