BIGGEST EVER ACHIEVEMENT IN VETERINARY HISTORY

THE GLOBAL RINDERPEST ERADICATION PROGRAMME

 
             Rinderpest (also cattle plague or steppe murrain) was an infectious viral disease of cattle, domestic buffalo, and many other species of even-toed ungulates, including buffaloes, large antelope, deer, giraffes, wildebeests, and warthogs. This deadly cattle plague triggered several famines and caused the loss of draught animal power in agricultural communities in the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries.

EARLY HISTORY

            The disease is believed to have originated in Asia, later spreading through the transport of cattle.

18th CENTURY

Rinderpest outbreak in 18th-century Netherlands

               In the Netherlands, interest in rinderpest inoculation declined in the 1780s because the disease itself decreased in intensity. 

19th CENTURY

Cows dead from rinderpest in South Africa, 1896

                     A major outbreak affected the whole of the British Isles for three years after 1865.   Around the turn of the century, a plague struck in Southern Africa. The outbreak in the 1890s killed an estimated 80 to 90% of all cattle in eastern and southern Africa, as well as in the Horn of Africa.

ERADICATION

        Widespread eradication efforts began in the early 20th century.

VACCINATION

•  In 1917–18 - William Hutchins Boynton (1881–1959), the chief veterinary pathologist, developed an early vaccine for rinderpest, based on treated animal organ extracts.
•  In 1924 - The World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) was formed in response to rinderpest.
•  In 1950 -  The Inter-African Bureau of Epizootic Diseases was formed, with the stated goal of eliminating rinderpest from Africa.
  
•  From 1956 to 1962 - Walter Plowright worked on a vaccine for the RBOK strain of the rinderpest virus for about a decade, developing a vaccine against a strain of rinderpest.

  Walter Plowright, who developed the rinderpest vaccine.

  
  
  
•  In1960s - A program called JP 15 attempted to vaccinate all cattle in participating countries.
•  In 1969  - An outbreak of the disease originated in Afghanistan, travelling westwards and promoting a mass vaccination plan.
•  In 1972  - Had eliminated rinderpest in all areas of Asia except for Lebanon and India.
•  In 1979  - Only one of the countries involved, Sudan, reported cases of rinderpest.
•  In 1980s - An outbreak of rinderpest from Sudan spread throughout Africa, killing millions of cattle, as well as wildlife.
•  In 1987  - In response, the Pan-African Rinderpest Campaign was initiated, using vaccination and surveillance to combat the disease.
•  In 1990s - Nearly all of Africa, with the exception of parts of Sudan and Somalia, was declared free of rinderpest.
•  In 1994  - Worldwide, the Global Rinderpest Eradication Programme was initiated, supported by the Food and Agriculture Organization, the OIE, and the International Atomic Energy Agency.
•  In 2001  - The last confirmed case of rinderpest was reported in Kenya.  
•  In 2006  - The final vaccinations were administered.
•  In 2009  - The last surveillance operations took place, failing to find any evidence of the disease.
•  In Oct 2010 -  The FAO announced it was confident the disease has been eradicated.
•  On 25 May 2011 - Eradication was confirmed by the World Organization for Animal Health.
•  On 28 June 2011 - FAO and its members countries officially recognized global freedom from the deadly cattle virus. 
•  On 14 June 2019 -  The largest stock of the rinderpest virus was destroyed at the Pirbright Institute.