Printed In USA. REVIEWS AND COMMENTARY Observations on the History of Epidemiology in Western New York,

Epidemiology has a rich tradition in western New York State, beginning with the classic study by Austin Flint of a waterbome typhoid fever outbreak in North Boston in 1843. Other important investigations included the study of the Buffalo poliomyelitis epidemic of 1912, by Wade Hampton Frost, which provided a comprehensive characterization of the epidemiology of the disease, and the first case-control study of cigarette smoking and lung cancer, by Morton L. Levin et al., conducted at the Roswell Park Memorial Cancer Institute in the 1940s. Other studies carried out before 1960 and included in the review deal with additional typhoid fever outbreaks, tuberculosis, breast cancer, and coronary heart disease. Am J Epidemiol 1997; 146:896-906. geography; history The development of epidemiology in western New York State began in 1843 with the original study by Austin Flint of the North Boston typhoid fever epi-demic (1) and followed up 30 years later, in 1873, with the presentation of his classic paper, "Relations of Water to the Propagation of Fever " (2), at the first annual meeting of the American Public Health Asso-ciation. While serendipity certainly played a major role in establishing epidemiology in western New York in the 19th century and in the early years of the 20th century, subsequently, certain special circum-stances favored the development of the field