Armstrong – Table of Contents

was identical to the organism first isolated in Australia in 1936. Work on the organism
was halted during World War II when the Division focused its attention on other war-
related rickettsial problems such as epidemic and scrub typhus. Work resumed on Q fever
after the War, and laboratory outbreaks recurred in 1946 and 1948. These latter outbreaks
were correlated with antigen preparation from Q fever-laden chicken embryo yolk sacs
that resulted in infectious aerosols (11 A, B). Despite the 1948 outbreak’s having
occurred in the new supposed “biosafe” Building No. 7 among uninvited visitors, the
rickettsial unit discontinued work on Q fever; however, studies continued at the Rocky
Mountain Laboratory in Hamilton, Montana where on one occasion infection was
exported in contaminated laboratory garments to workers in a local laundry (12).
In early 1942, Armstrong became Chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases
when Dr. Dyer was appointed Director of NIH. On December 22, 1942 Armstrong
advanced in commission rank to Medical Director (Army = Colonel, Navy = Captain).
He continued as the Chief of the Division until November 1948 when Dr. Karl Habel
succeeded him. During Armstrong’s tenure as Chief of the Division he acquired the
reputation as an efficient and frugal administrator. He was responsive to the legitimate
needs of the investigators in the Division and was responsive to their requirements for
equipment and personnel essential to their research. He also offered them broad
emotional and intellectual support at critical times. He had the reputation of overseeing
an economical operation and was supposed to have had annual surpluses at the end of
each fiscal year; according to some of the scientists in the Division, the fiscal and
administrative staff had problems about what to do with the surplus funds (13).