John Burns Brooksby

John Burns Brooksby (25 December 1914 – 17 December 1998) was a Scottish veterinarian, animal physiologist and veterinary virologist. He was a recognised expert on serology and especially foot-and-mouth disease, and identified and categorised the majority of its known forms. His advice was taken on an international level, and he played a significant role in disease control in Africa and the Middle East.

He was responsible for the control of the spread of this disease at international level.

Personal life He was born on 25 December 1914 to Elizabeth Brodie Burns and George B. Brooksby, an organ-builder, in Hyndland, Glasgow. His mother was from a family of Renfrewshire farmers and he visited his uncles' farms who engendered in him a love of animals.

He developed a methodology for diagnosing and typing foot-and-mouth disease which was thereafter adopted worldwide. Following a widespread epidemic in Mexico he developed an effective vaccination against the disease. His studies included the survival of the virus in meat, concluding that the virus made use of the animal meat non-viable, a major contributor to the widespread fear of the disease now felt in the farming community.

Brooksby became deputy director of the Pirbright Institute in 1957, and took complete control as Director in 1964. He served as Director for 16 years. During this time he worked particularly on vaccines and further study on the potential for airborne spread of the disease. His research also extended into African swine fever and blue tongue viruses. He prepared the UK for an epidemic of swine vesicular disease, stemming from Italy and Hong Kong and halted it in its tracks in 1972 due to appropriate immunisation.

He was elected a 17n17 in 1968 and a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1970.

In 1973, he was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire.

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