Dr. George Baer, 73, devoted career to public health

By RICK BADIE

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Dr. George Baer devoted his life to preventive medicine and combating disease.

Colleagues consider the virologist, veterinarian and public health scientist the "father of oral rabies vaccination."

In 1969, he and a team of scientists and researchers developed a method for the immunization of wildlife against rabies in laboratories at the Atlanta-based Centers for Disease Control. His creation of an oral rabies vaccine led to the eradication of wildlife rabies in most of Europe.

Because of his passion, research and writing, Dr. Baer was regarded as an international expert on wildlife rabies.

Dr. George Martin Baer, 73, of Mexico City and formerly of Atlanta, died June 2 from complications of a suspected heart attack at his home. Funeral services were held June 4 in Mexico City at the Iglesia de Santa Rosa de Lima. A memorial service will be held in Atlanta at a later date.

Born in London, Dr. Baer grew up in New Rochelle, N.Y., where he developed an early love for animals. He graduated from the Westtown School in Westtown, Pa., and in the late 1950s earned two degrees at Cornell University — a bachelor's in agricultural sciences and a degree in veterinary medicine. He got a master's degree in public health from the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor.

His career in public health began at the New York state health department in Albany, where he researched rabies and other diseases. In 1964, he researched bat rabies at the CDC's Southwest Rabies Investigations Station in Las Cruces, N.M.

Four years later, he became head of the CDC's rabies laboratory in Atlanta, where he and others made history. He earned acclaim as "the father of oral rabies vaccination." His book, "The Natural History of Rabies," has been a worldwide reference since 1975.

After retiring from the CDC, he founded a diagnostic lab in Mexico City. Fluent in Spanish, he was no stranger to the country. From 1966 to 1969, he had been a consultant to the Pan American Health Organization. The rabies expert had worked with scientists and veterinarians on the country's public health programs, something he continued for the rest of his life.

Dorothy Blalock of Atlanta was a classmate of Dr. Baer's daughter, Katherine, at Westminster. She called Dr. Baer a great conversationalist.

"We talked about philosophy — the big questions in life and the world," Ms. Blalock said. "We had great conversations about things of that nature."

Dr. Baer was an avid rock climber and mountaineer. He and his daughter Alexandra Baer of New Paltz, N.Y., once climbed a portion of Iztaccihuatl, a mountain southeast of Mexico City.

"We almost reached a summit," his daughter said, "but were told that the peak had iced overnight and would be treacherous without the spiky crampons that attach to your boots," his daughter wrote in an e-mail. "... We turned back ... but my father was very pleased and said, 'Not bad for your old man.' He was the most incredible man."

Other survivors include his wife of 49 years, Maria Olga Baer of Mexico City; two other daughters, Katherine Baer of Washington, D.C., and Isabella Baer of Mexico City; and four granddaughters.