History of trachoma in Canada

The author retraces the history of trachoma in Canada. The numerous articles in Canadian medical journals from the middle of the 18th to the middle of the 19th century show the remarkable contribution of Canadian ophthalmologists. The clinical symptoms and signs followed by the etiology and the different modes of treatment are reviewed. The presence and prevention of trachoma in Canada, ranging from Montreal to Toronto, also in Halifax with the arrival of the transatlantic immigrants, as well as those reaching the western provinces of Canada are described. How the Canadian Department of Health belatedly introduced a prevention campaign only after a widespread dissemination of trachoma across the country is also examined.