(Image Source: FAS Biosecurity Blog) 

Writer: Anthony Martinez

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The United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization has announced the end of Rinderpest, the second disease in history to reach eradication status. As of now, no living creature plays host to the virus.

But ask anyone if they’ve heard of it and the answer is probably “No”.

“The reason nobody has ever heard of it is because it’s an animal disease. It affects cattle, yaks, buffalo, and it also affects a lot of big game in Africa. That may not seem important, but it’s actually been an incredibly important disease in human history.”

The disease’s origins date as far back as 3,000 B.C. Egypt.

Rinderpest, the German word for a “cattle plague,” is one of the ten plagues described in the Hebrew Bible. But its significance doesn’t stop there according to the American Veterinary Medical Association.

“It actually contributed to the fall of Rome, the French Revolution and was used as germ warfare by Attila the Hun. Indeed, rinderpest is one of the reasons that we have veterinarians at all, in that it was the primary purpose in creating the first veterinary college in Lyon, France in 1761.”

Rinderpest follows in the footsteps of smallpox, the first disease ever eradicated.

Perhaps the champion of Rinderpest research was Dr. Walter Plowright, an English veterinary scientist who devoted his life to solving the rinderpest puzzle. UK’s The Times reports…

“After he initiated mass vaccination programmes in the developing world Plowright was hailed for transforming cattle-based economies that had been blighted by the virus… [He] fought the disease by providing a simple, affordable and easily administered vaccine. A single dose of his tissue culture rinderpest vaccine (TCRV) provided lasting immunity.”

And Wired UK notes -- Plowright’s initial work was augmented by global initiatives.

“In 1994 the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) created the Global Rinderpest Eradication Programme to squash the virus in other countries.
 Following years of work and funding from partners around the globe, the last outbreak of rinderpest was registered in wild buffalo in Kenya in 2001, and the last vaccinationtook place in 2006.”

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