Otto Huebschle loses fight for life

ONE of Namibia’s foremost veterinarians and animal scientists, Dr Otto Huebschle, passed away in Paris, France, yesterday morning, having lost the battle against the long wait for a heart transplant.

His son Tim said the lengthy waiting period in hospital over the past seven weeks, after he collapsed at an international veterinary conference in Paris end of May, had proved too much. “During the period of his hospitalisation over the past seven weeks, my father was fighting for his life on a daily basis,” Tim Huebschle said yesterday in a short statement.”No matching donor heart could be found, even though his name was on an emergency transplant list.This morning he gave in to the physical strain caused through the lengthy waiting period,” Huebschle junior said.Funeral arrangements will be announced at a later stage.The Ministry of Agriculture yesterday paid tribute to its top civil servant, saying he would be “sadly missed by his colleagues, the veterinary profession and livestock industry in Namibia and beyond”.Dr Huebschle was the Chief Veterinary Officer and in that capacity the Director of Veterinary Services in the Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Forestry.He was born in 1945 in Germany and qualified as a veterinarian at the Universities of Munich and Zurich.In 1970 Huebschle won a scholarship from the German Student Exchange Programme (DAAD) to study at the Onderstepoort Veterinary Institute in South Africa, where he was awarded the degree of M.Med.Vet, majoring in virology.After several years of working in the virology section at Onderstepoort he joined in 1976 the Federal Research Institute for Virus Animal Diseases in Tuebingen, Germany.He worked on foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) and airborne virus diseases and some of the work involved research into exotic virus diseases in Europe, particularly blue tongue disease.During this period he gained a Dr.med.vet and qualified as a specialist in microbiology and serology.Dr Huebschle also worked on different developmental projects in Madagascar and Kenya and was a consultant to the EU.In 1983 he was appointed as Deputy Director responsible for the Central Veterinary Laboratory (CVL) in Windhoek.Under his guidance the laboratory was completely renovated and new sections introduced, such as the rabies diagnostic and molecular biology sections.He was a prolific researcher who authored or co-authored over 60 scientific papers.During his tenure at the CVL numerous research projects were initiated.In 2006 he was appointed as Chief Veterinary Officer (Director), a position he held until his death.During his tenure as Chief Veterinary Officer, Dr Huebschle was working hard towards declaring communal farming areas free of FMD and lung sickness so that farmers there can have wider access to local, regional and international markets.At the end of May, Dr Huebschle went to Paris to attend the Annual General Session of the International Organisation for Animal Health (OIE), where Chief Veterinary Officers and veterinary experts from across the globe meet every year to deliberate on issues concerning safe trade in animals and animal products and the control of animal diseases.”During the period of his hospitalisation over the past seven weeks, my father was fighting for his life on a daily basis,” Tim Huebschle said yesterday in a short statement.”No matching donor heart could be found, even though his name was on an emergency transplant list.This morning he gave in to the physical strain caused through the lengthy waiting period,” Huebschle junior said. Funeral arrangements will be announced at a later stage.The Ministry of Agriculture yesterday paid tribute to its top civil servant, saying he would be “sadly missed by his colleagues, the veterinary profession and livestock industry in Namibia and beyond”.Dr Huebschle was the Chief Veterinary Officer and in that capacity the Director of Veterinary Services in the Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Forestry.He was born in 1945 in Germany and qualified as a veterinarian at the Universities of Munich and Zurich.In 1970 Huebschle won a scholarship from the German Student Exchange Programme (DAAD) to study at the Onderstepoort Veterinary Institute in South Africa, where he was awarded the degree of M.Med.Vet, majoring in virology.After several years of working in the virology section at Onderstepoort he joined in 1976 the Federal Research Institute for Virus Animal Diseases in Tuebingen, Germany.He worked on foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) and airborne virus diseases and some of the work involved research into exotic virus diseases in Europe, particularly blue tongue disease.During this period he gained a Dr.med.vet and qualified as a specialist in microbiology and serology.Dr Huebschle also worked on different developmental projects in Madagascar and Kenya and was a consultant to the EU.In 1983 he was appointed as Deputy Director responsible for the Central Veterinary Laboratory (CVL) in Windhoek.Under his guidance the laboratory was completely renovated and new sections introduced, such as the rabies diagnostic and molecular biology sections.He was a prolific researcher who authored or co-authored over 60 scientific papers.During his tenure at the CVL numerous research projects were initiated.In 2006 he was appointed as Chief Veterinary Officer (Director), a position he held until his death.During his tenure as Chief Veterinary Officer, Dr Huebschle was working hard towards declaring communal farming areas free of FMD and lung sickness so that farmers there can have wider access to local, regional and international markets.At the end of May, Dr Huebschle went to Paris to attend the Annual General Session of the International Organisation for Animal Health (OIE), where Chief Veterinary Officers and veterinary experts from across the globe meet every year to deliberate on issues concerning safe trade in animals and animal products and the control of animal diseases.