Page 40 - VHSA - Onderstepoort 100 Years - Part 1

OND
ERSTEPOORT 100
Top Management in 1978. Seated, f.l.t.r.: S. W. van Rensburg, R.D. Bigalke, K.E. Weiss (Director), T.W.Naudé,K.P.Naude.
Middle row, f.l.t.r.: P. van Rooyen, C.M. Cameron, J.G. Pienaar, L.A.P. Anderson, C.J. Howell. Back row, f.l.t.r.: B.J. Erasmus and D. W. Verwoerd
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the pathogenesis of bloat in ruminants. He applied for lecture- ships in both physiology and virology when the new faculty posts of the Onderstepoort Faculty were advertised in 1957. He was offered both, but opted for virology after consulting with Graf. He was therefore appointed
Weiss was appointed a deputy director of the Institute in 1966 and he succeeded Jansen as director in 1969, his title being Director, Veterinary Research Institute, Onderstepoort. There were posts for two deputy directors during his term of
lecturer in virology and reverted back to the Institute’s Virology Section in 1957.
Haig had also applied for the virology post and, when unsuccessful, left Onder- stepoort for the Allerton Laboratory’s poul- try section, where his name appears on the 1958 staff list as senior state veterina- rian, poultry research. He resigned from government service in 1959 and accepted a position in the United Kingdom where he was intimately involved in pioneering research on the nature of the aetiological agent of scrapie which culminated in the prion hypothesis.
“Weiss devoted much
of his time and energy to the restructuring of vaccine production at Onderstepoort. He saw the necessity for, and started developing the concept of, centralizing all vaccine production activities at Onderstepoort as early as 1958.”
office. The first incumbents were M.C. (Mike) de Lange – whom Weiss had superseded when he was promoted to Director – and J.D. (Daan) Smit. De Lange served (on a part time basis) in the Department of Surgery and Gynaecology of the Onderstepoort Faculty from 1947, first as senior lecturer and from 1956 as professor and head, until the end of 1957 when the department became a full time component of the Onderstepoort Faculty. He was appointed as deputy director of the Institute in 1961 in the post vacated by Jansen. Smit was professor and head of the Department of Pathology in the Faculty (on a part time basis) from 1963-1973 until the latter was incorporated into the University of Pretoria. He served as deputy director of the Institute
From 1958-1972 Weiss conducted re-
search in virology, especially on Rift Valley
fever (RVF), Wesselsbron disease – a disease
discovered by him – and lumpy skin disease, developing vaccines against the latter two and improving the existing one for RVF. He also planned the building and restructuring of the vaccine factory and the re-organization of vaccine pro- duction, as outlined in Part 3: Vaccine Production.
from 1966-1976 when he retired. Bigalke replaced De Lange in 1974 when the latter went on pension and T.W. Naudé succeeded Smit. In 1982 Naudé translocated to the Faculty to become Professor of Toxicology.
Weiss’ close involvement with all facets of vaccine pro-
PART 1
Onderstepoort Veterinary Institute: General History
1908-2008
Years