Dr. Raoult Ratard, the state epidemiologist for the Louisiana Department of Health whose work put him on the front line of public health battles for more than two decades, has died.
The state announced Ratard’s death in a news release Tuesday. A spokesman told WWL-TV his death did not appear related to COVID-19, the current public health crisis that Ratard would typically be deeply involved in as state epidemiologist.
His career with Louisiana’s Office of Public Health spanned more than 26 years. Speaking in his thick French accent, his job often put him before television cameras for interviews to explain a public health situation, illness or death.
“Dr. Ratard was an exceptional public health professional and he guided our state through public health responses to West Nile virus, H1N1, Ebola preparation, response to the amoeba Naegleria fowleri and a significant number of environmental and toxicology issues throughout the state,” said Governor John Bel Edwards in a statement. “He was a servant leader and dedicated his career to improving lives.”
In addition to his work in Louisiana, which also included tuberculosis and sexually-transmitted diseases, Dr. Ratard led other states and countries in the response to many emerging disease outbreaks, including malaria and leprosy control in Vanuatu, leprosy control in Texas, tuberculosis in North Carolina, schistosomiasis in Cameroon, hospital infection control in Saudi Arabia, influenza surveillance in several African countries and Ebola control in Mali.
“Dr. Ratard was a force within the Department of Health and our whole region,” Assistant Secretary Dr. Alex Billioux said in a statement. “He trained future generations of epidemiologists and set Louisiana on the path forward to respond to public health outbreaks. He also contributed to our success to reduce HIV rates and tuberculosis rates.”
According to his website, he was born in Vanuatu, an island group in the South Pacific. Ratard earned his medical degree from the University of Paris Medical School in 1968, then specialized in tropical medicine, microbiology and immunology.
Dr. Ratard taught infectious disease epidemiology at the University of South Florida School of Public Health in Tampa, Florida and served as adjunct faculty at the Louisiana State University School of Public Health in New Orleans.
He received a medical degree from the University of Paris Medical School in France and specialized in tropical medicine, microbiology and immunology. Later, he obtained a master’s degree in parasitology from LSU Medical Center New Orleans and a Master of Public Health and Tropical Medicine from Tulane University.
