Page 92 - VHSA - Onderstepoort 100 Years - Part 3
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ERSTEPOORT 100
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identified about a decade later by E.M. Robinson – although Theiler apparently ensured that he also got credit – in 1927 when he identified the toxin-producing bacterium as a member of the Clostridium botulinum group, i.e. C. botulinum Type D.
the field for many years.
Alexander related that the vaccine manufacture situation
was as follows in 1958: The Section of Bacteriology was responsible for the production of seven different vaccines, i.e. for anthrax, blackquarter, lamsiekte, brucellosis of cattle,
Routine vaccination against lamsiekte was 1938 with a vaccine developed by Mason and others. Sterne and Mason produced a more potent formol-toxoid vaccine against lamsiekte in 1941 that protects against Types D and C, both being involved in the aetiology in South Africa. This vaccine was considerably improved by Sterne and L.M. Wentzel in 1950 by using an intussuscepted cellophane tubing technique that pro- duced much larger quantities of toxin.
first instituted in
The mouse brain technique developed
by Max Theiler (Sir Arnold Theiler’s youngest
son) for the attenuation of yellow fever
virus in the USA, opened up the way
for successful attenuation of other viruses.
At Onderstepoort, African horsesickness
virus was first in line by R.A. Alexander
in 1933 and 1935 and a highly effective,
polyvalent mouse brain vaccine which can
be regarded as the first scientifically sound
vaccine developed against an animal disease caused by a virus was successfully tested in 1936.
The Section of Virology prepared eight different vaccines, i.e. for African horse- sickness, bluetongue, distemper, rabies, fowlpox, Newcastle disease, Rift Valley fever plus Wesselsbron disease (then a combined product) and heartwater, the latter consisting of infected sheep’s blood. Heartwater’s aetiological agent had been identified as a rickettsial organism in 1926. A separate unit was responsible for the lyophilization of those vaccines that could be freeze-dried. These included all viral vaccines and much of the brucellosis vaccine that was
“At Onderstepoort, African horsesickness virus was first in line by R.A. Alexander in 1933 and 1935 and a highly effective, polyvalent mouse brain vaccine was successfully tested in 1936, which can be regarded
as the first scientifically sound vaccine developed against an animal disease caused by a virus.”
enterotoxaemia (pulpy kidney), lamb dysentery and calf paratyphoid. Two diag- nostic reagents, namely tuberculin and mallein were also produced. Although the research staff of the section was ultimately responsible, the actual production of bac- terial vaccines had by then been shifted to a separate set of laboratories in the same building-complex manned by technical staff. The preparation of culture media for the production of bacterial vaccines had also been centralized.
The Section of Protozoology was responsible for the production of two vaccines, i.e. for anaplasmosis (gallsickness) and babesiosis (redwater). These vaccines consisted of the blood of splenectomized, carrier-donor cattle.
Mason, J.D.W. Coles and Alexander subsequently success- fully attenuated bluetongue virus in embryonated hen’s eggs in 1940. This led to the development of an avianized polyvalent vaccine by Alexander that was used successfully in
Unit in the Virology Section where viral vaccines and contagious abortion vaccine were lyophilized (freeze-dried), ca 1958
manufactured.
Noteworthy is the fact that by
1958 the technique of propaga- ting viruses in cell culture was being used for research purposes at Onderstepoort, but not yet for vaccine production. However, this was soon to completely supersede the former techniques.
As indicated above, the develop- ment of vaccines was customarily done by the researchers in their laboratories which were housed in the section in which they worked, the latter being based on the disciplines such as virology and bacteriology. Once a vaccine had been tested experimentally and had proved to
be effective the next step was to scale up its production to factory volumes.
PART 3
History of Individual Disciplines
1908-2008
Years


































































































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