SMALL POX AND RENDERPEST

 Smallpox disease caused by the variola virus. spread

from one person to another.
 World Health Assembly declared the world free of
Small pox on May 8, 1980.
 Last documented case of naturally occurring smallpox
in the world was diagnosed on October 3, 1977 in a
23-year-old male hospital cook living in Merca,
Somalia.

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In 1796, there was a remarkable discovery that
was to change history.

Progress in smallpox control was slow. It

improved when, during the 19th century.

In 20th century alone, an estimated 300 million

people died of the disease.

Not until the 1950s were methods perfected to

produce large amounts of a heat-stable
vaccine.
The 1st proposal that the countries of the
World Health Organization (WHO) undertake a
global eradication campaign was made in 1953.

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The first was for the endemic countries to each undertake a well-
monitored mass vaccination program to assure protection of 80% of the
population.

The second component, called surveillance-containment, was to

begin at the same time as mass vaccination.

The third component was to provide for the regular and frequent
distribution of surveillance reports to all program participants and health
officials.

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 The eradication effort in 20 West African countries was among the
earliest successes.
 More than 100 million people became smallpox free Subsequently, successful
programs extended throughout all other countries of Africa (except Ethiopia)
and by 1973 all were free of smallpox.
 India and Bangladesh represented the most formidable obstacles. With a
combined population of more than 700 million people.
 No less dramatic were the final chapters in Ethiopia and Somalia. where
populations were scattered and migratory, civil wars were a continuing hazard
and problems of kidnapping of teams were a continuing threat.
 Smallpox was already eliminated in North America (1952) and Europe (1953).
Cases were still occurring in South America, Asia, and Africa. The Program
made steady progress toward ridding the world of this disease, and by 1971
smallpox was eradicated from South America, followed by Asia (1975), and
finally Africa (1977).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.vaccine.2011.06.080
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 Rinderpest – also known as cattle plague – was a disease caused by
the rinderpest virus which primarily infected cattle and buffalo.
 1st Zoonotic disease to have been eradicated.
 While Rinderpest did not infect humans it severely affected their
livelihoods.
 100% death rate in some herds.
 Together with the development of a potent vaccine in 1960, the
dead-end in wild herds played an important role in achieving the
disease eradication in 2011.

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Mass vaccination of all cattle for three subsequent
years.

1980s numbers of rinderpest cases in Africa and

Asia were in the same.

In 1993, the United Nations (FAO) initiated the Global

Rinderpest Eradication Program (GREP).

The first tissue-culture–produced rinderpest

vaccine was developed in 1960 by Plowrig.

By the 1970s, the range of rinderpest in Africa was

reduced to two areas, the Niger Inland Delta.

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In the late 1980s, a second coordinated effort to
eradicate rinderpest, the Pan-African Rinderpest
Campaign (PARC), was launched.

By the 1990s, rinderpest was largely, but not

entirely, confined to remote endemic areas of
eastern Africa

The early rinderpest vaccines were superseded by

Plowright’s tissue-culture–produced vaccine.

Hence, in 1981 the development of a

thermostable rinderpest vaccine was identified
as a research priority.

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Surveys of animal health knowledge systems of
pastoral communities uncovered a rich source of
information for planning animal health activities.

Global Rinderpest Eradication Program at the

United Nations (FAO) and the Somali Ecosystem
Rinderpest Eradication—facilitated the uptake of
targeted approaches.

Community animal health workers played a

major role in reaching these remote cattle and
eradicating rinderpest from this and other
challenging areas of East Africa.

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• Stimulated the imagination and induced stakeholders to risk
change in fundamental areas of animal health practice and
human behaviour. Despite the advent of the thermostable
vaccine, this new technology alone could not solve
institutional issues the optimal gathering and use of
information in decision-making.
• Resources for animal health surveillance in the developing
world are limited. Conventional surveillance data for
rinderpest were insufficient to reliably indicate the presence
of disease.
• The use of pastoralists knowledge in surveillance was found
to be critical for targeting eradication efforts.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.coviro.2012.02.010
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