Cattle plague, a fatal viral infection that infects hoofed animals, has been wiped off from all countries in the world, the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of the United Nations has announced. Also called rinderpest, it is the first animal disease and second of all infectious diseases in history to be entirely eradicated by human efforts.
Smallpox was of course the first disease to be stamped out, as a result of a global vaccination drive, in 1979.
The declaration came from the delegates of World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) who recognised that “all 198 countries and territories with rinderpest-susceptible animals in the world are free of the disease” in a new resolution.
Highly contagious with a large mortality rate, the disease acts up by making the animals feverish at first and leads them to death by dehydration. Most of the bovine species are susceptible including cows, buffalo, yaks and wildebeast; some cloven-hoofed animals like sheep and goats may also be affected mildly. It has killed millions of animals in Europe, Asia and Africa leading to starvation in human communities that depend on cattle for meat, milk and agriculture.
The disease was reached far out in corners of the worlds thanks to agricultural trade. The disease of this scale can wreck domestic and wild animal populations, people’s livelihoods and, consequently, on entire local or national economies. The devastation of the disease has been on records before the Roman times. The last major outbreak took place in Kenya in 2001.
OIE and FAO have collaborated on rinderpest eradication programmes since 1994, when the fight against the deadly disease started to gain momentum. Global distribution of vaccines and careful monitoring of infected cattle helped by simple diagnostic tests developed by British scientists are the resons behind this success.
The vaccine against the disease was developed as far back as 1960, but the logistics of carrying out mass cattle vaccination in remote parts of the world with insufficient funding contributed to the delay.
In 1964, sixteen thousand rinderpest-ridden animals died in Bengaluru that caused many families to lose their livelihood. Malleshappa Rajasekhar, the founder of Project Directorate on Animal Disease Monitoring and Surveillance, Indian Council of Agricultural Research, has worked towards a rinderpest-free India for 20 years. He said: “It was one of my life’s ambitions to be a part of the eradication team in the country. As a researcher and a field worker it was very challenging. Coming down to the grassroots level, right from the top, to the last animal was a tough job.”
“It was the most dreaded disease in the Indian peninsula. In fact, our civil veterinary department came into existence because of this disease and is being continued now.” India was certified rinderpest free in 2006. Both FAO and OIE organisations consider this global achievement a result of “successful collaboration of a multitude of governments, international and regional organisations, the veterinary profession, and the scientific community,” they said in a statement on Wednesday.
“Rinderpest has been one of the top priorities of FAO in its quest to defeat hunger and improve lives through agriculture,” said Ann Tutwiler, FAO deputy director-general. “With the eradication, livestock production around the globe has become safer.”