Page 2 - VHSA - Onderstepoort 100 Years - Part 3

OND
ERSTEPOORT 100
Bacteriology
C.M. CAMERON, M.M. HENTON, H.F. HUCHZERMEYER, V. DE VOS AND A.L.MICHEL
TIntroduction
he founding of the Institute at Onderstepoort in 1908 occurred at a period in the history of science when ‘bacteriology’
was regarded as the ultimate
achievement in biological science, following the groundbreaking discoveries of Louis Pasteur and Robert Koch of the role that micro-organisms play in diseases of humans and animals. No wonder that the official name chosen for the new institution was the ‘Veterinary Bacteriological Laboratories’ of the Trans- vaal Department of Agriculture, with its first Director bearing the title of ‘Government Veterinary Bacteriologist’, which was re- tained until 1912. Two of the first four appointments made in 1908, James Walker and Walter Frei, were also called Assistant Government Veterinary Bacteriologists, the
be regarded as a keystone discipline in the history of Onderstepoort, a position it maintained for the rest of its first century.
Early years (1908-1928)
Theiler had been producing two bacte- rial vaccines at Daspoort, respectively for blackquarter and lungsickness, and this was the first such activity transferred to Onderstepoort in 1908. Two diagnostic reagents, tuberculin for tuberculosis in cattle and mallein for glanders in horses were also produced. Lungsickness or contagious bovine pleuropneumonia had devastated the cattle population of South Africa since 1853 when a Friesian bull, imported from the Netherlands, was the source of an epidemic which spread throughout the entire southern Africa via trek oxen plying
“In 1853 a Friesian bull, imported from the Netherlands, was the source of lungsickness which spread throughout the entire southern Africa via trek oxen plying transport routes.”
other two being a pathologist and a zoologist. Bacteriology can therefore
transport routes. The first vaccines were body fluids or crude cultures, originally produced by J.D. Borthwick at A.
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Bacteriology Laboratory in the Old Main Building 1908
PART 3
History of Individual Disciplines
1908-2008
Years