Louis Willems

Because of the gin industry the area around Hasselt had a large amount of livestock, as the waste products, fermented grains, were used to fatten cattle.

Dogs, sheep, chickens, rabbits and turkeys did not show a disease from the antigen[clarification needed], and he came to the conclusion that it was not insanitary conditions, but an internal agent peculiar to cattle that caused the epidemic.

There was a worldwide controversy, with supporters and opponents in France, Germany, South Africa, Australia, the United States and Russia.

At the time, there was still no consensus in medical circles about the causes of what, after the work of Robert Koch and Louis Pasteur, was generally described as infectious diseases: plague, tuberculosis, etc.

Only in 1864 was the merit of his work recognized,[citation needed] and his ideas spread throughout Europe, Southern Africa and Australia, even though it was still a long time before the disease mechanism had been clearly defined.

In a letter dated June 29, 1880 to Willems (Archives Beveren-Waas)[citation needed] Pasteur wrote: I saw the very interesting corpuscles that you previously reported it, and have some tests done to them to cultivate, so far without result.

It is the letter from William to the Minister, but also the crown of the Virga Jesse in Hasselt people who donated to the Virgin in gratitude for ridding the city of the bovine disease.

[clarification needed] In September 2002, a statue of Louis Willems of Hasselt by artist Luc Steegen was aptly placed behind the Provincial Library.