Rinderpest Follows Small Pox

Among other things, I have an amateur's interest in the history of diseases generally and more especially in the eradication of epidemics and serious diseases. I am therefore impressed by the scientific achievement that has worked in the background to lead to the declaration that rinderpest has been eradicated. Scientists at the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) announced that they have virtually ensured the eradication of the rinderpest, a viral disease that affects livestock.

Reading this piece by Ian Sample of the Guardian, the achievement marks only the second time that humanity has succeeded in eradication of a viral disease. While rinderpest affected livestock and therefore had effects on livelihood for animal keepers, Small Pox directly afflicted people and had caused human deaths for three millenia before its eradication in the early 1980s.

It is interesting to note that dedicated scientific enquiry and considered design of an eradication programme may lead to fantastic results that vastly improve welfare. This short history of eradication also proves that pathogens are very resilient and their eradication is the exception rather than the norm. Still, human ingenuity gives me hope that the odds for control, if not eradication, of some pathogens are higher than they have ever been. Of course, it is possible that with prioritization, well designed prizes could hasten the conquest of the disease causing viruses.