2008-07-17Staff Report 2 By Staff Reporter WINDHOEK The chief veterinary officer in the Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Forestry, Dr Otto Huebschle, has died. He passed away yesterday at a hospital in Paris, France, where he was admitted for a heart ailment while he was in Europe on an official mission in June. Huebschle had gone to Paris to attend the Annual General Session of the International Organisation for Animal Health, where chief veterinary officers and veterinary experts met to deliberate on issues concerning safe trade in animals and animal products and the control of animal diseases. The Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Forestry yesterday announced that Huebschle had passed away in France, where he was receiving treatment. Last month, the Government medical aid (PSEMAS) was requested to release N$2.3 million, which was needed for an urgent and life-saving operation on Huebschle. He was born in 1945 in Germany and qualified as a veterinarian from 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 a degree of M.Med.Vet. majoring in Virology. In 2006, he was appointed Chief Veterinary Officer (Director), a position he held until his death. During his tenure as director of veterinary services, Huebschle worked towards freeing communal areas of foot-and-mouth disease and lung sickness, to enable farmers to have wider access to local, regional and international markets for animal and animal products. The ministry said Huebschle would be missed by many in the veterinary profession and livestock industry in Namibia and beyond. 2008-07-17Staff Report 2
