Un Delcares Rinderpest Is Eradicated
The date 28 June 2011 will go into the annals of history as a very special day for human kind. This is the day when UN declared that rinderpest - or what is better known as cattle plague – has been eradicated. The announcement came at the 37th Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Conference, where a resolution was released declaring riderpest the first animal disease and the second disease after smallpox, to be eradicated.
As Juan Lubroth, Chief of Animal Health Service, FAO explains, "If you could imagine that you are an owner of 100 animals, a milking herd, by the end of the week, you would have zero, it would go so fast through the population. By having had a good vaccine and eradicating rinderpest, I think, from a food security point of view, this is a tremendous accomplishment."
This is a phenomenal achievement; one that would, in a great measure, assure food security through the globe. The credit for this accomplishment goes to the dedicated men and women who formed Global RInderpest Eradication Program (GREP) and worked with single-minded determination to see this goal achieved.
What Is Rinderpest?
Rinderpest is a cattle disease caused by a virus – morbilivirus – that is closely related to the virus that causes human measles and canine distemper . This disease is fatal to cattle, yaks, buffaloes, and most other even-toes ungulates. Among the animals in the wild susceptible to this disease were kudus, giraffes, swine and wild buffaloes.
As the disease sets in, the animal would develop high fever, diarrhea, mouth and digestive tract erosions, discharge from eyes and nose, and depression. Dehydration sets in fast and the emancipated animal dies within 7-10 days from the first signs of disease.
The existence of this disease was documented more than 10,000 years ago originating from Central Eurasia. The 19-20th centuries saw rinderpest devastating cattle in Africa causing disastrous famines.
How Rinderpest Affects Humans?
This is an animal virus that does not affect humans as a disease. However, by its ability to completely wipe out cattle herds, this virus had the power to bring on famine in any part of the world. In other words, rinderpest threatened the livelihoods and food security of people throughout the world.
