Page 24 - VHSA - Onderstepoort 100 Years - Part 1

ONDERSTEPOORT 100
prevented the further spread southwards of this dreaded disease.
When the South African parliament decided by a narrow margin to join the British Commonwealth’s war effort when World War II was declared in September 1939, it resulted in a serious political division in the country. This division was
also reflected among the Onderstepoort staff. Some enlisted for service, others vehemently opposed the war and a few were interned because of their German descent. These divisions would take many years to heal and also resulted in the loss of several excellent scientists. On 15 December 1944, shortly before the end of the war, the government issued a proclamation prohibiting the membership by civil servants of the Afrikaner Broederbond (AB), a pro- Afrikaner organization opposed to the war. Two of the most senior and respected staff members, i.e. H.O. Mönnig and A.I. Malan, refused to resign from the AB, the former stating in a letter that he had never been involved in any unlawful or secret activi- ties. As a consequence they were forced to resign from the civil service, a loss that Onderstepoort could ill afford. In fact, in 1950 Mönnig was offered the director-
ship of the Institute but did not see his way open to return, having established himself in the private sector.
At the outset of the war the Union Defence Force de- cided to reorganize its veterinary services and proposed the appointment of du Toit and his Deputy Gilles de
Kock as Officers Commanding. It was decided to establish a South African Veterinary Corps (SAVC) consisting of five officers and 75 volunteers to be drawn from the staff and students at Onderstepoort as well as field staff. Initially Col. W. Clapham was proposed as permanent SADF commanding officer but he was first replaced by A.M. Howie and then by C.J. van Heerden. Du Toit argued that the war against animal diseases should not be neglected in favour of the European war and in this be was supported by P.R. Viljoen, since 1931 Secretary
The South African Veterinary Corps in 1945 during WWII. It was also operational during WWI
managed to cultivate and attenuate the virus in embryonated eggs, however.
Another highlight was the publication in 1937 by M.P. Sterne of his studies on an improved vaccine against anthrax which eventually led to the development of a 100% safe and effective vaccine which was to become the standard vaccine widely used all over the world. This
accomplishment is more fully described
in Part 3 (Bacteriology). Of interest is that
Sterne’s wife, T. Alper, made scientific history
in 1948 by bringing the first hazardous
radioactive isotopes to South Africa and
conducting the first biological experiments
utilizing isotopes in collaboration with the
National Physical Laboratory of the Coun-
cil for Scientific and Industrial Research
(CSIR) at Onderstepoort. It consisted of
determining the lethal dose of 32P irradia-
tion for egg embryos, apparently as part of
a programme aimed at virus inactivation.
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Onderstepoort also became involved in
directly assisting another African country in
disease control for the first time in 1939.
Following an outbreak of rinderpest in
Tanganyika (now Tanzania), Mitchell set
up a field laboratory in that country to
produce vaccine for the mass immuniza-
tion of all cattle in the southern part of the country. A team was appointed to assist with 1.5 million vaccinations. The local authorities were also helped to erect a wooden game- proof fence some 375 km in length between lakes Tanganyika and Nyassa (now lake Malawi). Fortunately these measures
“Perhaps the most spectacular innovation
of the 1930s was the attenuation of African horsesickness (AHS) virus by its passage through mouse brains by Alexander. The polyvalent neurotropic AHS vaccine that Alexander developed in 1936 was the first really effective vaccine against this economically important disease...”
PART 1
Onderstepoort Veterinary Institute: General History
1908-2008
Years