25 May 2011: The World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) declared that Rinderpest, one of the deadliest diseases of cattle and several other animal species, has been eradicated globally.

Adopted during the 79th Annual OIE General Session, convening from 22-27 May 2011, in Paris, France, the resolution officially recognizes, following thorough control by the OIE with the support of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO), that all 198 countries and territories with rinderpest-susceptible animals in the world are free of the disease. The eradication is the result of two parallel programmes implemented by OIE and FAO: the three-stage “OIE Rinderpest Pathway,” launched in 1989; and the FAO Global Rinderpest Eradication Programme (GREP) managed in collaboration with the UN International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

OIE Director General Bernard Vallat stressed that rinderpest is the first animal disease ever to be eradicated by humankind, and lauded the contributions of science, international cooperation and, in particular, veterinary services. Rinderpest, also known as cattle plague, is a contagious viral disease affecting several species of wild and domestic cloven-hoofed animals (animals with a hoof split into two toes), notably cattle and buffalo. Rinderpest is caused by a virus of the family Paramyxoviridae, genus Morbillivirus. The mortality rate can reach up to 100% in highly susceptible cattle or buffalo herds.

The 192 members of the FAO are scheduled to adopt a Resolution on the “Declaration of Global Freedom from Rinderpest and on the Implementation of Follow-up Measures to Maintain World Freedom” at the 37th FAO Conference to be held in Rome, Italy, from 25 June-2 July 2011. [OIE Press Release] [Editorial by OIE General Director Bernard Vallat]