Page 6 - VHSA - Onderstepoort 100 Years - Part 3

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ERSTEPOORT 100
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Jansen, who had joined the institute staff in 1949, was appointed senior lecturer in bacteriology and in 1963, when Alexander retired, he became head of the Department of Infectious Diseases and also Dean of the Faculty until 1970. Jansen retained his professorship until the break-away of the Faculty in 1973 when he was suc- ceeded as head of the department by P.G. (Peter) Howell, a virologist. In view of the amalgamation of bacteriology and the other disciplines mentioned, its further history at the Faculty is dealt with in Part 2: Veterinary Tropical Diseases.
the tuberculin skin test provided an efficient diagnostic test for eradication purposes, little work was done on the disease in the early years.
As far as can be established Robinson was responsible for the production of tuber- culin since his appointment in the early 1920s. In 1936 he started producing an improved Heat Concentrated Tuberculin and in 1947 the production of Purified Protein Derivative (PPD) of tuberculin still using Mycobacterium tuberculosis (the human strain). Field trials indicated that tuberculin produced from M. bovis was more specific and in 1960 South Africa was one of the first countries to introduce bovine tuberculin. In 1961 Kleeberg was joined by R.W. (Bob)
G.C. van Drimmelen (right) with the fermentor he developed for the production of brucellosis vaccine
H. (Helmut) Kleeberg was one of a small
group of post-war immigrants that came to
Onderstepoort in the early fifties. He joined
Robinson and founded a dedicated tuberculosis laboratory which pioneered the use of isoniazid for the treatment of the disease. Bovine tuberculosis had been a scourge of especially dairy cattle in the then Western Cape Province and was among the first notifiable diseases contained in the Diseases of Stock Act promulgated in 1911. Being a chronic disease, and since
Worthington who assumed the responsibility for research on tuberculin and other sensitins as well as for most of the farm work involved in Kleeberg’s chemotherapy experiments.
The tuberculosis section grew steadily, obtained national recognition as a CSIR unit in 1962 and in 1969 merged with the Medical Research Council’s Tuberculosis Unit, receiving
“The tuberculosis section grew steadily, obtained national recognition as a CSIR unit in 1962 and in 1969 merged with the Medical Research Council’s Tuberculosis Unit, receiving institute status in 1976 with Kleeberg as first Director.”
PART 3
History of Individual Disciplines
1908-2008
Years