Originating in Asia, rinderpest spread worldwide centuries ago, as humans migrated -- bringing livestock with them -- to different continents.
And the virus is remarkably deadly to cattle. With symptoms that include diarrhea and dehydration, an estimated 80 percent of livestock that contract rinderpest die from the ailment.
With two viruses down and thousands (if not millions) more to go, Surge Desk offers a handy guide on how to eradicate the dastardly pathogens.
1. Start local, but always dream big.
The rinderpest eradication program got a major kick-start in Britain, which launched a comprehensive program in 1865. Two years later, thanks to culls and livestock restrictions, the country managed to eliminate the virus within its borders.
Scientists worldwide, however, had loftier ambitions.
"For too long people have been involved in controlling diseases and not actually dreaming that it is possible to eradicate a disease from the world," said Dr. John Anderson of the Institute for Animal Health (IAH). "And with rinderpest we did."
In 1994, the U.N. launched a global eradication initiative to test cattle for the illness and vaccinate at-risk livestock.
Smallpox eradication occurred in a similar manner. Once a vaccine was developed, communities worldwide toyed with vaccination efforts. But it wasn't until mandatory vaccination programs in industrialized countries, and a major effort by the World Health Organization to contain the virus in developing regions, that smallpox outbreaks were curbed and eventually curtailed altogether.
2. Hope to high heavens that you're only dealing with one strain.
No doubt the work of scientists at eradicating rinderpest has been impressive. But their efforts got a major boost from the virus' relative simplicity: With only one strain to address, the team was able to develop effective vaccines and tests.
Viral mutation is a major challenge for most eradication attempts. Many pathogens are able to subtly change in adaptation to antiviral drugs, rendering the meds ineffective and forcing scientists to create a new solution that's tailored to the latest transformation.
But with any luck, scientists might one day turn viral mutations into virus killers. Using a strategy called "lethal mutagenesis," researchers are trying to spur viral cells to undergo an unsustainable number of fatal mutations -- essentially killing themselves off.
"Most mutations are bad," Claus O. Wilke, an evolutionary biologist at the University of Texas, told The New York Times. "And so by increasing the amount of mutations, you can decrease the number of good offspring."
3. Teamwork, teamwork, teamwork.
Shooting for global eradication means massive collaboration, and that's just what happened in the cases of smallpox and rinderpest.
To put a final nail in the smallpox coffin, WHO officials deployed "consultants" to monitor illness outbreaks and educate locals in regional hot spots. And talk about international cooperation: The U.S and Soviet Union proffered the majority of initial vaccination stockpiles for developing countries.
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For the last several years, rinderpest has been widely contained in industrialized countries, but it was still a major problem in Africa. With myriad nomadic tribes, herds of cattle were difficult to pin down. Experts resolved the problem by training local "barefoot vets" to vaccinate and test their own herds. That teamwork hastened the virus' elimination.
It's an enormously important achievement because it highlights what can be done by people working together," Dr. Mike Baron, with the IAH, told BBC News. "It has also taken a disease which has been a huge threat to the livelihood of people and removed it."
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