Page 64 - VHSA - Onderstepoort 100 Years - Part 3

OND
ERSTEPOORT 100
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A service was offered on a commercial basis to the poultry industry which by 1992 had become the largest agricultural industry in South Africa. The programme was so successful that income derived from it was soon sufficient to cover all running costs and salaries for a staff of five. Research activities concentrated on respiratory diseases and conditions affecting the digestive system. An important contribution was the dis- covery by Bragg, one of the first postgraduate students of the department, of NAD-independent strains of Haemophilus paragallinarum, the organism causing fowl coryza, and the molecular characterization of its plasmids. Other achievements include the first isolation in South Africa of the virus causing the egg drop syndrome and the development of techniques for the rapid determination of bacterial contamination of eggs.
Ostriches are susceptible to several important poultry diseases such as Newcastle disease and avian influenca 1
S.B. Buys (1977-1982) , who succeeded Coetzee and then proceeded to industry, seen here (left) performing poultry autopsies
With Huchzermeyer’s retirement in 1996 the work on crocodiles ceased and D.J. (Dirk) Verwoerd took over the Ostrich Unit with A.J. (Adriaan) Olivier as an assistant. During 1993 Verwoerd had initiated work on ostriches in the Poultry Department of the Faculty, concentrating on Newcastle disease which threatened the newly booming export of ostrich products. The work in the Ostrich Unit revolved around Newcastle disease and Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever, particularly after 16 workers at the Oudtshoorn abbatoir were infected with the latter virus after
contact with an infected ostrich. Sensational international press coverage led to a European Union ban on ostrich meat imports from South Africa but fortunately it could be shown that the risk of infection by tick-infested ostriches is no greater than that by cattle or sheep carrying infected ticks and the ban was soon lifted. During this time the abattoir at the OVI had been leased and operated as an ostrich abattoir, providing valuable material to the Ostrich Unit. However, due to lack of financial support from the ostrich industry, the ARC decided to close the Unit in 1998 which coincided with the closure of the ostrich abattoir at Onderstepoort. Verwoerd left to join a pharmaceutical company and Olivier became head of the Klein Karroo Laboratory in Oudtshoorn.
In 1995 ill-health forced the resignation of Coetzee who was replaced on a temporary basis by F. (Frank) Travers and Bragg. In 1997 C.D. (Christie) le Roux was appointed as the new head of the department. In 1999 with the amalgamation of the Onderstepoort and Medunsa faculties it was decided to incorporate the Poultry Department as a section in the new Department of Production and Community Health. At about the same time the newly founded private laboratory Avimune under Coetzee’s guidance assumed many of the diagnostic, research and production functions previously performed on both sides of the road at Onderstepoort, by the Faculty as well as the Institute, recruiting many of the experienced staff. Shortly thereafter le Roux also resigned and M. (Mike) Odendaal took over as acting head until 2000 when S.H. (Shawn) Bisschop was appointed as successor, while the focus of the section reverted to teaching. As mentioned above, van Blerk returned to the section in 2004 on a part-time basis to lend his vast practical and diagnostic experience to the training of the students.
PART 3
History of Individual Disciplines
1908-2008
Years