Stanny Geerts

The role of the Belgian
Stanny
vets in
Geerts
the tropics
– an historical overview
Stanny Geerts

Dr. vet. M. Mammerickx
Prof. Dr. vet. J. Mortelmans

Contents
• Before 1960/1962: colonial vets in Belgian
Congo and Rwanda-Urundi
– Some highlights
• After 1960/62: vets in development
projects all over the world
– Some highlights
• Tropical veterinary medicine in Belgium
today

Epizootics of Rinderpest caused huge losses in
livestock in Africa in the 19th and 20th centuruy

Rinderpest
• Epizootics in Belgian Congo and Ruanda-Urundi
– 1920-24 and 1930-36: large epizootics
– Between 1938 and 1957: several smaller epizootics
• Control by hyperimmune serum (method of DBT:
Danysz, Bordet & Theiler)
– Jules Bordet: Belgian medical doctor, Nobel Prize
1919)
• Many colonial vets have been involved in the
production of immune serum against rinderpest
Mammerickx, 2003. Ann. Méd. Vét. 147: 197-205.

Belgian vets involved in first veterinary
faculties in Latin America and Africa
• Veterinary School of Santa Catalina (Argentina)
– Established in 1883
– 3 Belgian vets: C. Tombeur, D. Bernier, C. Lambert
– 1906: annexed by University of La Plata
• Veterinary School of Abouzabel (Egypt)
– Established in 1828
– 2 Belgian vets: A. Prétot, P. Hamont
– School disappeared in 1849

Eugene Meuleman
the first Belgian vet in Congo
• Born in Jodoigne in 1865
• Graduated as vet in Cureghem
• 1889: appointed by King Leopold II as veterinarian of
the Independent Congo State
– Livestock transport between Matadi and Leopoldville
• Regular meat supply for the railway workers
• 1906: first and only vet at the School of Tropical
Medicine, Brussels
• Publications:
– Meuleman (1895). Etude sur l’élevage des animaux domestiques au
Congo.
– Lancaster & Meuleman (1898). Le climat du Congo.

Colonial vets
in Belgian Congo and Ruanda-Urundi
• Between 1885 and 1962: in total about 230 vets
– Not enough Belgians
– Vets from Switzerland, Italy, Poland, Greece, etc.
– Increasing numbers
• Between 1908-1914: about 20
• Between the 2 world wars: about 60
• Between 1945-60: about 150 (90 Belgians, 60 foreigners)
• Entire colonial career: 31 year + 6 months
– Consisting of 9 periods of 3 years and 9 leaves of 6 months
– Most vets who were engaged between 1920-30 have completed 31.5
years

Role of vets
in the former Belgian colonies
• Provincial veterinary officers (direction
provinciale des services vétérinaires)
– Responsible for regions often larger than
Belgium
• Heads of veterinary laboratories
– Some vets had to build their lab from scratch
• Private sector:
– Vets in charge of big ranches (2000 to 5000
heads of cattle)

Achievements of vets
in the former Belgian colonies
• Main focus on large ruminants
• Excellent veterinary extension services
in Rwanda-Urundi, Kivu and Ituri
– Considered as a model for the whole of
Africa
• 1960: Belgian Congo and Rwanda-Urundi:
selfsufficient for beef!

Watutsi cattle in Kisenyi 1957
Livestock competition

René Van Saceghem
1884-1965
• Military vet
• Head of the first laboratory
of bacteriology at Zambi in
Belgian Congo
• 1914: discovered
Dermatophilus congolensis
• Research on rinderpest,
trypanosomiasis, ECF, etc.
• 57 publications in Bulletin
Agricole du Congo Belge
• 35 publications in Ann. Soc.
Belge Méd. Trop.

Lesions caused
by Dermatophilus congolensis*
*: bacterium, not fungus

Jos Mortelmans
1924-2005
• Colonial vet (1952-59)
– laboratories of Kisenyi,
Elisabethville, Stanleyville and
Astrida
• 1959: started Veterinary
Department at ITM, Antwerp
• One of the founding fathers
of ITC*, Banjul
• President-founder of Agri-
Overseas/ Tropicultura
• Trained 615 students in
tropical vet medicine
• 262 scientific publications
– Trypanosomiasis, zoo animals,
zoonoses, parasitology
*: International Trypanotolerance Centre

After the independancy of Congo
and Rwanda-Urundi (1960/1962)
• Development aid to the former colonies
and many other third world countries
– Development Projects
– Support to veterinary services in DCs
– Support to veterinary faculties in DCs
• In Belgium
– Undergraduate Training of vets from DCs
– Postgraduate Training of Belgian and DC vets
• Establishment of a large number of NGO’s
– i.a. Vétérinaires sans frontières (1994)
DC: developing country

ASVEZA project
1982-2002
• Assistance to the veterinary services of Zambia
(formerly BADCP-Belg. Anim. Dis. Contr. Proj.)
• One of the biggest and longest lasting projects in the
veterinary field
– Financed by the Belg Developm Admin
– Supervised by the vet dept of ITM, Antwerp
• At peak activity: 10 Belgians among whom 4 vets
• Focus on East Coast fever and trypanosomiasis
control
• Very successful
• Reduction of calf mortality from > 25 % until 2.5 %
• Capacity building and training

VVOB* support
to the Veterinary Services of Malawi
• 1990s: lack of manpower in Malawi Vet Services
– Request of Malawi Govnt to VVOB to send vets
• VVOB sent 7 Flemish vets
– Function: PVO or DVO (Project or District Veterinary
Officers)
– Operating funds: those available within Malawi Vet Services
• Almost nihil
• Plus 250 € per year from VVOB!
• Policy of VVOB in 1990s: providing manpower (without
financial support)
– Policy did change in the meantime
• Project in Malawi was stopped after a few years
*: VVOB: Flemish Association for Development Cooperation and Technical Assistance

BELGIAN SUPPORT TO VETERINARY
FACULTIES IN THE TROPICS *
• Institut Agronomique et Vétérinaire Hassan II
(Morocco)
• Faculté Vétérinaire (Lubumbashi, D.R Congo)
• Ecole Inter-Etats des Sciences et Médecine
Vétérinaires (Dakar, Senegal)
• School of Veterinary Medicine (Lusaka, Zambia)
• Faculty of Veterinary Science (Pretoria, South
Africa)
• College of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine
(Jimma, Ethiopia)
*: non exhaustive list

TROPICAL VETERINARY MEDICINE
TODAY
• Belgium focuses development cooperation in
smaller number of countries
• Smaller number of veterinary projects than
before (integration in rural development)
– Increasing number of vets from DC
– Decreasing number of Belgian vets
• In Belgium:
– Postgraduate training of vets, mainly from DC
– Belgian vets: Junior programme* of BTC
– Loss of expertise in tropical veterinary medicine
*: Vrijwillige dienst ontwikkelingssamenwerking (VDOS)

MAIN BELGIAN PLAYERS IN THE
TROPICAL VETERINARY FIELD TODAY
• Vétérinaires sans frontières/
Dierenartsen zonder grenzen (Belgium)
• Institute of Tropical Medicine, Antwerp
• Institut Vétérinaire Tropical, Liège &
Gembloux
• Belgian Platform on tropical animal
health and production (be-troplive)

Vétérinaires sans frontières
Dierenartsen zonder grenzen
• Established in 1994
• Projects in 8 African countries
•Important contribution to rinderpest eradication
• currently 19 vets involved of whom 12 Africans

Institut Vétérinaire Tropical
Fac Méd Vét, Gembloux,ULg
• Master Complémentaire (MC) interuniversitaire
en gestion des ressources
animales et végétales en milieux
tropicaux (in french).
• Three options:
– animal production
– plant production
– wildlife maangement

Institute of Tropical Medicine
Antwerp
• Master in Tropical Animal
Health
– Alternating in French
and English
• PhD training
• Short training course
‘Quantitative Risk
Assessment’
• Distant learning (in coll.
with Fac Vet Sci, Pretoria)

Belgian Platform on tropical
animal health and production*
• Established in 2006
• Informal and
multidisciplinary
platform
• Open to institutional
and individual members
involved in tropical
animal health and
production
• Mission statement
– Exchange information
– Stimulate joint
actions
– Increase visibility
– Improve coherence
– strengthen relations
with agricultural and
medical sector
*: financially supported by DGD.

WORKSHOPS AND SYMPOSIA
• 2006: Strenghtening livestock services in the
tropics
• 2007: Sustainable livestock production in the
tropics
• 2008: Integrating livestock in farming
systems
• 2009: Socio-economic approaches in livestock
production in the tropics
• 2010: Where medics and vets join forces

THANKS
FOR YOUR ATTENTION