Page 109 - VHSA - Onderstepoort 100 Years - Part 3

remarkable woman, a true lady, who was involved with vete- rinary virology at Onderstepoort for almost 6 decades. She commenced her career at Onderstepoort in February 1932 as assistant to Alexander. She performed the intracerebral inoculations that led to the isolation of AHS virus in mice and the subsequent serial passages that led to the development of the first attenuated AHS vaccine. During the
ONDERSTEPOORT 100 Veterinary technician preparing cell
cultures for virus production
(The South African Association for Veterinary Technologists) of which he was the founding chairman, a post that he held for many years. He and other technical staff, notably J.A. (Koos) Botha centralized the production of vaccines in the Virology Section. This became the forerunner of Onderstepoort Biological Products. J.B. (Kobus) Bester (1947-1968) assisted Alexander with developmental work on freeze-drying of viral vaccines and with his practical nature he contributed a great deal to its eventual successes. Since about 1959 he and his staff were responsible for the freeze-drying of all live viral vaccines (in the Wool Building) and in 1968 they
continued this activity in the new vaccine production facility. M.J. (Magiel) Botha had a long and fruitful career in the Virology Section. Initially he and Koos Botha assisted McIntosh with his AHS research. Thereafter he worked with Howell on BT and AHS, and eventually with Barnard on MCF. S.T. (Stan) Boshoff (1958-1989) was a remarkable person in many respects. He was a big man but inside that giant frame he carried a small heart. Transferred from Allerton to
the Virology Section at Onderstepoort, he 199 soon became an indispensable member of
the team, specializing in serological tests
such as complement-fixation and haemag- glutination-inhibition. He was exceptionally meticulous and well-organized, with his test
results always neat and up to date – the ideal technologist in every respect! Sadly he suffered from various ailments such as arthritis and high blood pressure and retired because of ill health at the relatively young age of 54 years. He died soon afterwards.
Another remarkable person was L.M. (Lucas) Pieterse (1959-1993). Gifted with exceptional dexterity and enthusiasm he was the ideal person to pursue new tech- niques and methodologies. Being rather
early 1940s she inoculated the embryonated eggs that resulted in the artificial cultivation of BT virus and its subsequent attenuation by serial passage.
“S.M. (Rita) Geyer, truly the ‘grand dame’ of veterinary virology, was involved with veterinary virology at Onderstepoort for almost 6 decades. She performed the intracerebral inoculations that led to the isolation of AHS virus in mice and the subsequent serial passages that led to the development of the first attenuated AHS vaccine.”
During the 1950s Miss Geyer was the
first person at Onderstepoort to grow tissue
and cell cultures in vitro. In subsequent
years she was in charge of a group of
women who produced cell cultures for the
entire Institute (for research and vaccine
production). Promotions duly followed and
it is not surprising that Miss Geyer was
the first female in the Department of Agri-
culture to be promoted to the post of
Control Technician, at the time the highest
post available for technical staff. She retired
in 1977 but was immediately re-employed
on a part-time basis and assisted Erasmus
in the improvement of the BT vaccine. In
1986, at the age of 73 she finally retired, having spent 54 extremely fruitful years in the Virology Section. In January 2008, at the age of almost 95 years, she was still in good health with a remarkable memory.
impatient to await results, he successfully modified several techniques to expedite the outcome of tests. He was involved in the isolation and identification of many viruses, amongst them some known viruses (e.g. equine viral arteritis, equine influenza) isolated for the first time in South Africa and some hitherto unknown viruses (e.g. the equine encephalosis viruses). He trained many people in virological techniques,
P.J. (Valie) van Rooyen (1947-1968) will be remembered mainly for his role in vaccine production and for uniting veterinary technologists in their own professional organisation
Virology
1908-2008
Years