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Rinderpest Eradication: How the World Ended the Great Cattle Plague

A virus that once killed up to every animal in a herd is now the only livestock disease the world has eradicated.

What Was Rinderpest?

Rinderpest, also called cattle plague, is caused by a virus that mainly infected cattle and buffalo. It did not infect people, but it still devastated human communities, because herds supplied meat, milk, hides and the draft power that plowed fields. Where it struck, famine often followed, and Our World in Data notes that it killed millions through the livelihoods it destroyed.

Death rates could reach 100 percent in highly susceptible herds. In Ethiopia in 1880, more than 90 percent of cattle died, according to the Our World in Data summary of how rinderpest was eradicated. For a beef rancher, that figure describes a disease with no equivalent in modern cattle country.

How Countries Fought It Before a Vaccine

Before a vaccine existed, countries relied on quarantine, better hygiene, slaughter of infected herds and inoculation. Europe eliminated rinderpest in the early twentieth century, and European Russia relied largely on slaughter in 1908. Thailand, the Philippines and Iran eliminated it before World War II using inactivated virus samples.

These methods worked where governments had strong veterinary services and could control animal movement. They were far harder to apply across the pastoral regions of Africa and Asia, where herds crossed borders and few vets were available.

Plowright's Vaccine

In 1960, the English veterinary scientist Walter Plowright developed a tissue culture rinderpest vaccine. It provided lifelong immunity, had no major side effects and was inexpensive to produce. Plowright received the World Food Prize in 1999 for his work.

A cheap, safe vaccine changed the economics of control. Programs could vaccinate herds in remote areas without losing animals to the vaccine itself, and the same product could be used in many countries.

The Global Rinderpest Eradication Programme

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations launched the Global Rinderpest Eradication Programme in 1994, aiming to finish by 2010. The program used global surveillance and ring vaccination, meaning vaccination in a circle around outbreaks to contain them.

The last Asian case was recorded in Pakistan in 2000, and the last known global outbreak was in Kenya in 2001. The American Veterinary Medical Association report on the declaration and the ILRI news archive item both mark the 2011 announcement as a landmark for veterinary medicine.

What Made It Work

Rinderpest could be eradicated for reasons that go beyond the vaccine. The virus has no wildlife-free hiding place that kept it going indefinitely once herds were immune, and the vaccine gave lasting protection. Just as important, a coordinated international campaign kept pressure on the last pockets of infection.

  • A safe, cheap vaccine: Plowright's tissue culture vaccine gave lifelong immunity without major side effects.
  • Surveillance first: GREP built global disease reporting so outbreaks were found and not guessed at.
  • Ring vaccination: targeting the animals around outbreaks stopped spread without vaccinating every herd on earth.
  • A deadline: the FAO set 2010 as the target and the last known outbreak occurred in 2001.
  • Verification: the OIE declared eradication only after the final cases were years behind, on May 25, 2011.
  • Cost: eradication work from 1945 to 2011 was estimated at 5.5 billion in 2017 dollars, which is small beside the loss of at least 1.02 billion 2017 dollars in the 1982 to 1984 African outbreak alone.

What Remains: Stored Virus Samples

Eradication does not mean every sample of the virus is gone. In 2014, 23 countries still held virus samples, and the OIE and FAO planned to destroy most stocks and keep a few under international supervision. Our World in Data also notes that no global data on rinderpest cases and deaths appears to exist, so the historical toll is estimated and not counted.

Why It Matters to Beef Country

Beef ranchers in the United States have not faced rinderpest in modern times, but the story anchors the case for animal disease surveillance and cooperation. It also shows what eradication takes: years of boring, steady work by vets and herders. For more cattle history, see farm.FM's ranching section, or read a farm.FM story about cattle disease.

Timeline

  1. 1880Rinderpest kills more than 90 percent of cattle in Ethiopia.
  2. 1908European Russia relies largely on slaughter to eliminate the disease.
  3. 1960Walter Plowright develops the tissue culture rinderpest vaccine.
  4. 1982-1984An outbreak across most of Africa causes losses of at least 1.02 billion 2017 dollars.
  5. 1994FAO launches the Global Rinderpest Eradication Programme.
  6. 1999Plowright receives the World Food Prize.
  7. 2000Last Asian case recorded in Pakistan.
  8. 2001Last known global outbreak occurs in Kenya.
  9. May 25, 2011OIE declares rinderpest eradicated.

Frequently asked questions

When was rinderpest declared eradicated?

The World Organization for Animal Health declared rinderpest eradicated on May 25, 2011. The last known outbreak had occurred in Kenya in 2001. It remains the first and only animal disease eradicated.

Who developed the rinderpest vaccine?

English veterinary scientist Walter Plowright developed a tissue culture rinderpest vaccine in 1960. It gave lifelong immunity and was inexpensive. He received the World Food Prize in 1999.

Could rinderpest infect humans?

No. The virus mainly infected cattle and buffalo. People suffered indirectly, through the loss of herds, draft animals and food, which led to famines that killed millions.

Sources and further reading

Profiles are compiled from public sources and reviewed against them. See our editorial policy to suggest a correction.

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