Deadly Cattle Plague, Once the Bane of Farmers, on its Deathbed
by Al Remington | December 1, 2009
from Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
Sometime soon, rinderpest will officially be declared extinct, marking the first time mankind has ever eradicated an animal disease.
The term rinderpest is taken from German, and means cattle-plague—a name by which it is commonly known. When occurring in severe, epidemic form, it is a serious contagious disease of cattle, buffaloes, yaks and their wild relatives.
Affected animals have a high fever, erosions in the mouth, diarrhoea and rapidly become dehydrated and emaciated, dying one week or sooner after showing the first signs of the disease.
November 2009, Rome – In animal health circles, it’s the equivalent of the Apollo 11 moon landing: some time in the next 18 months, FAO jointly with the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) and other partners will officially declare one of the most devastating animal diseases known to man, rinderpest, as eradicated.
It will be the first time in history that humankind has succeeded in killing off an animal disease and only the second time a disease has been consigned to the dustbin as a result of human efforts. (The first was smallpox, in 1980.)
“When you think about it, it’s quite remarkable that we are where we are today,” says Juan Lubroth, FAO’s Chief Veterinary Officer. “This is a disease that has been an absolute scourge in agriculture for millennia.”
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