©FAO/Tony Karumba What are theclinical signs? Where didrinderpest come How muchofanimpacthas rinderpest hadonhistory? eradication beenapriority What isrinderpest? Why hasrinderpest where diditstrike? Does rinderpest infect humans? from and for FAO?

QUESTIONS ASKED FREQUENTLY RINDERPEST for AnimalHealth, andFAO. Office International desEpizooties(OIE),now the World Organisation establishment ofmajorinternational organizations, includingthe the creation ofveterinary colleges inEurope andAsia,aswell asthe social and economic implications of the diseasealso contributed to opment, food securityandtheprotection ofnatural ecosystems. The rinderpest wasnecessary for theimprovement ofagricultural devel Since itsformation in1945,FAO hasrecognized thatthecontrol of contributed to theGreen Revolution inagricultural production. pest went unchecked. Subsequent control of the disease worldwide significant agricultural development was not possible while rinder the colonization of Africa. In the 1940s in China, it became clear that 19 derpest wasintroduced into sub-Saharan Africa, attheendof the French Revolution andtheimpoverishment ofRussia. Whenrin Roman empire, theconquest ofChristian Europe byCharlemagne, Rinderpest epidemicsandresulting losses preceded thefall ofthe icas andAustralia withimported animals,butwasquickly eliminated. astated partsofAfrica. Rinderpest alsoappeared brieflyintheAmer imports. Inthenineteenth andtwentieth centuries, thediseasedev ing across Europe and Asia with military campaigns and livestock rinderpest originated inthesteppes ofCentral Eurasia, later sweep cattle, more than10,000years ago.Historical accounts suggest that origin ofhumanmeasles whenpeople first started to domesticate before itbore itscurrent name.Theviruscould well have beenthe Rinderpest is an ancient disease whose signs were recognized long cattle inamatter ofdays. hoods andfood security,dueto itsabilityto wipeoutentire herds of and otheranimalshashadatremendous impactonhumanliveli Rinderpest is not known to infect humans, but its impact on cattle dying oneweek orsoafter showing signsofthedisease. diarrhea. Theanimalsrapidly become dehydrated andemaciated, charges, erosions inthemouthanddigestive tract, along with Affected animals have ahighfever, depression, nasal/oculardis ruminants. related to humanmeasles, canine distemper andpeste despetits swine, giraffes andkudus.Rinderpest iscaused byamorbillivirus gulates), bothdomesticated andwild.Vulnerable animalsinclude of cattle, buffaloes, yaks andmanyotherartiodactyls(even-toed un Rinderpest, orcattle plague,isacontagious andhighly-fatal disease th century, ittriggered extensive famines andopenedthewayfor ------

http://www.fao.org/ag/grep.html ©FAO/Ishara Kodikara Can rinderpest come back? mean inpractical terms? What maderinderpest What doeseradication eradication possible? What isGREP? FAO and OIEofany suspicious cases. surveillance, continued training, and communication bycountries to for unexpected outbreaks. Prioritywill beplaced onongoingdisease fectious rinderpest virussamples anddeveloping acontingency plan includes reviewing and ensuring sequestration of all remaining in all butafew laboratory samples. GREP’s post-eradication strategy All scientific indications are that rinderpest has been eliminated from endemic rinderpest. erinary investigators to disclose, andvaccinate against, reservoirs of promoted astrategy to withdraw mass vaccinations, allowing vet restrictions, combined withquarantines, gainedimportance. GREP was rampant. Asthediseasewasbrought undercontrol, movement Vaccines were usedto protect cattle populationswhenrinderpest one oftheworld’s safest andmost effective vaccines. veloped inthe1950sbyDrWalter Plowright inKenya. Itisconsidered component inrinderpest control wasagroundbreaking vaccine, de tional levels helpedto make rinderpest eradication possible. Akey ment ofpeople at the community, national,regional andinterna Excellent science, close international coordination, andthecommit tems. disease, andfollowing avirus search inthelast remaining ecosys halted allfieldactivitiesinOctober 2010,after 9 years withoutthe break anywhere intheworld was recorded inKenya in2001.FAO ples would remain inlaboratory settings.Thelast confirmed out the diseasewasnolonger circulating inthewild,thoughvirussam Global eradication ofrinderpest required scientific verification that ties. national Development, nationalgovernments, NGOsandcommuni nors like the European Union, USAID, the UK Department for inter the African Union’s Interafrican Bureau for AnimalResources, do the International Atomic Energy Agency, regional organisations like tional partners like the United Nations Development Programme, tion for Animal Health (OIE), has coordinated a vast cadre of institu Through GREP,FAO, inclose collaboration withtheWorld Organisa disease thatkept crossing borders. al technical andfinancialsupport, to outrun,isolate andeliminate a tions agreed they neededasingle, cohesive approach, withaddition decades ofefforts to stamp outthedisease,countries andinstitu rinderpest andultimately, to verify freedom from thedisease.After at FAO in1994to address agapininternational efforts to eliminate GREP, theGlobal Rinderpest Eradication Programme, wascreated ------

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