Page 9 - VHSA - Onderstepoort 100 Years - Part 3

Leukotoxin is produced during the early stages of growth, when the cell yield is still low, and the leukotoxin vaccine is therefore more costly to produce. That leukotoxin vaccines are far more effective than the old bacterin vaccines is illustrated by the fact that during the 1970s, when only bacterin vaccines were available, cases of shipping fever yielded 70% P. haemolytica and 30% P. multocida. During the early 2000s, when the use of leukotoxin vaccines was well established in feedlots, there was a remarkable drop of P. haemolytica to only 23% of all cases of shipping fever from cattle in feedlots.
When Cameron left the Institute in
1985 it was decided to amalgamate the
Sections of Bacteriology and Reproduc-
tion under the leadership of S. (Stan) Herr.
Reproduction had over the years developed
into a unit dealing mainly with bacterial causes of infertility and abortion. These included Brucella, Leptospira, Trichomonas and Campylobacter, and the researchers involved were C.C. (Catherine) Williamson, J.G. (Jan) Myburgh,
B. (Bruce) Gummow and S.M. Pefanis.
ONDERSTEPOORT 100 went on to become the safety officer of
the OVI.
By 1988/89 some new faces appeared
on the scene, including F. Chaparro, who was mainly involved in brucellosis serology, L.M.M. Ribeiro, who was responsible for the diagnosis of brucellosis, trichomonosis and vibriosis and who developed typing discs for Brucella, L. (Lesley) Te Brugge and R. (Richard) Bartkowiak. Highlights during this period were the development of an experimental vaccine against Trichomonas foetus, and a serological investigation of the prevalence of brucellosis in African buffa- loes in the Kruger National Park (KNP).
A new addition to the staff in 1990 was A.D. (Andrew) Potts who was mainly responsible for the serology of brucellosis and leptospirosis. 1990 was also the year when tuberculosis caused by M. bovis was
first diagnosed by necropsy in the KNP. The introduction of improved molecular diagnostic tests utilizing PCR, ELISA and gamma-interferon techniques allowed the tuberculosis
On the bacteriological side Henton investigated pleuropneumonia in pigs, C.J.V. Trichard continued his research on mycoplasms, while R. Swanepoel worked on improving the Campylobacter fetus (previously known as Vibrio fetus) vaccine. Research on fish diseases (which had fallen under Poultry since 1981) was also added to Herr’s responsibilities in 1987 when the Poultry Section amalgamated with the Poultry Section of the Faculty. The fish research unit was disbanded in 1989 when the sole researcher, R. (Robert) Bragg, resigned to join the Poultry Section. Bragg had been assisted by P. (Paula) Broere, who
team, now led by A.L. (Anita) Michel, to
carry out numerous and extensive surveys
in live buffaloes and other species during
the 1990s. The spread of tuberculosis
to lions, cheetahs, leopards, hyenas and
kudus became evident and the tubercu-
losis laboratory formed a close alliance
with veterinary researchers in the infected
parks, the Faculty of Veterinary Science,
the Department of Agriculture and several 99 international collaborators. Fingerprinting confirmed that tuberculosis in the KNP
had originated from cattle in Mpumalanga Province.
The transfer of the Onderstepoort Re- search Institute from the Department of Agriculture to the newly established Agri-
cultural Research Council in 1992 was a turning point in its history not only for the Institute, renamed the Onderstepoort Veterinary Institute (OVI), but also for Bacteriology as a discipline. The separation from the vaccine factory, which was not transferred, ended the traditional emphasis on vaccine development and the intimate involvement in vaccine pro- duction which had been the mainstay of the section’s activities since its inception. Furthermore, the new responsibility of the Institute to earn an ever increasing part of its funding from out- side sources necessitated a change in approach from science- oriented to client-oriented activities. To meet this challenge it was decided to reorganize the Institute and replace the scientific discipline-based research with programmes which could be marketed and would meet the requirements of its clients.
The transfer of the Onderstepoort Research Institute from the Department of Agriculture to the newly established Agricultural Research Council in 1992 was
a turning point in its history...“
A diagnostic kit developed and produced at Onderstepoort
The activities of the Section of Bacteriology and Reproduc-
Bacteriology
1908-2008
Years