Page 104 - VHSA - Onderstepoort 100 Years - Part 3

OND
ERSTEPOORT 100
was used as stimulant by some producers, had any effect on milk composition.
The transfer of the Institute, renamed as the Onderstepoort Veterinary Institute (OVI), from the Department of Agriculture to a semi-autonomous Agricultural Re- search Council in 1992 led to a significant change in corporate culture. This included a reorientation towards more client-driven research. In the case of Veterinary Public Health it meant greater emphasis on diag- nostics, on environmental issues and the needs of developing communities.
“At the Faculty, van den
Heever was succeeded in 1988 by G. V.S. Turner. Under his guidance attention was devoted to the re-curriculation of the discipline (especially in milk hygiene, with the removal of mastitis from the course curriculum). A Management Guideline was developed with a mission statement, goals for teaching staff and job descriptions.”
Turner also promoted liaison with outside universities resulting in the appointment in 1990 of Prof J. Bleby of the Royal Veterinary College in London as an extraordinary professor. At the time Bleby was an international expert in the field of laboratory animal science and he visited the department in August 1990 to compile a postgraduate course in Laboratory Animal Science at the Masters level. Turner left the service of the University of Pretoria in 1992, following a year of sabbatical leave during and after which C.M. Veary served as acting head of the department.
In the period up to 1993 the following postgraduate courses were offered, but with an ever declining enrolment: MMed Vet(Hyg), MMedVet(LAS), PhD, DVSc, DipVPH and DipHA. The latter two diploma
A highlight during this period was the
official opening and commissioning of the
new Food Hygiene building in 1993. Du
Preez completed an extensive study of the
influence of heat stress on dairy production
in 1994 and was then appointed as
manager of a new training programme which concentrated on technology transfer to various client groups. It included the organization of two very successful symposia on respectively environmental hygiene and meat hygiene.
Giddings was responsible for community
development and the development of
hygiene auditing systems for red meat and
poultry abattoirs. The residue laboratory
under Apps also started a new initiative in-
vestigating residues in the environment as
well as in feeds and foods.
courses, Diploma in Veterinary Public Health and Diploma in Veterinary Health Administration, were presented in
Following the translocation of Petzer to the Faculty, the resignation of Giesecke and 194 other senior staff members as well as the financial restraints discussed elsewhere it was decided in 1996 to close down both the abattoir and the Section of Food Hygiene. The residue laboratory was retained as a separate entity mainly to handle the certification required for the export of meat to European and other countries. At a later stage this laboratory was given the added
responsibility of initiating and managing the accreditation by SANAS (South African National Accreditation System) of various OVI laboratories.
Developments at the independent Faculty
At the Faculty, van den Heever was succeeded in 1988 by G.V.S. Turner. Under his guidance attention was devoted to the re-curriculation of the discipline (especially in milk hygiene, with the removal of mastitis from the course curriculum). A Management Guideline was developed with a mission statement, goals for teaching staff and job descriptions. The Department had since 1988 been accommodated in a brand new building with ultra-modern facilities, including the first computer network on the Veterinary Faculty campus at Onderstepoort.
• Veterinary food hygiene and the factors associated with the provision of safe, sound and wholesome food of animal origin;
• The ethical, legal and scientific use of laboratory animals as a method to protect and promote human health;
• The economic importance of condemnations in the red meat industry; and
• The application and economic importance of the hazard analysis critical control points (HACCP) in the South African poultry industry for product safety monitoring.
Members of the department were also active in their co- operation with many outside organisations within the region as a result of their scientific expertise in specialist areas of veterinary public health. Staff members’ international involvement in the field included honorary membership of
conjunction with
the Department of Community Health of the Medical Faculty. One is reminded of the strong bond that existed at the time between the two departments when one reads the following from a talk, ‘Veteri- nary medicine protecting and promoting the public’s health and well-being’ by Marguerite Pappaioanou in 2004.
‘Dr. Calvin Schwabe’s vision of ‘One Medicine’ has long inspired many in the public health community to strive toward bringing human and veterinary medicine together to improve the public’s health and well-being around the world’.
In the same period, the department focused on the following research fields:
• Epidemiology and the prevention/con- trol of diseases with special reference to the zoonoses and other diseases of food animals of economic importance;
PART 3
History of Individual Disciplines
1908-2008
Years