Two international agencies have urged countries to remain vigilant about the possible re-emergence of the deadly cattle disease called Rinderpest.
Rinderpest was declared eradicated in 2011, making it the first animal disease to be eliminated in the history of humankind. For centuries, Rinderpest caused the death of millions of cattle, buffalo, yak and wild animals, leading to famine and starvation.
FAO and the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) are calling upon countries to eliminate last Rinderpest virus samples still being held in some laboratories around the world. To maintain the global freedom from Rinderpest and prevent any re-introduction of the disease, the two agencies have developed a Global Action Plan published on 22 November. The plan is meant to be a guiding material for countries, outlining the responsibilities of all involved to maintain the freedom.
The global action plan encompasses five phases: preparation, prevention, detection, response, and recovery. As Rinderpest has been eradicated, the action plan to address the risk of re-emergence is distinct from other plans targeting transboundary animal diseases.
That entails keeping front-line actors aware of the disease and the possibility of its re-emergence. Several actions have already been put in place to meet this objective, such as the “Never turn back” OIE communication campaign targeting laboratory staff, veterinary practitioners and veterinary students.
The GAP also entails optimizing capacity to make diagnostic tools and vaccines available if needed, a coordinated emergency plan that can be immediately activated upon the first confirmed case, assuring both a rapid return to global freedom from the disease and necessary support for affected livelihoods. All of these phases need attention at the national, regional and international level.
One reason that diagnostic and vaccine capacities for Rinderpest are low is that the eradication campaign put a ban on using the virus except in highly controlled experiments supervised by OIE and FAO.
However, there are still some institutes around the world holding Rinderpest virus material – including vaccines from the past. These samples either need to be destroyed or moved to safe laboratories. By contrast, samples of the smallpox virus, the only other infectious disease to have been formally eradicated, exist in just two designated secure storage zones.
Ideally, countries might opt to destroy their RVCM (x) holdings, and FAO and OIE run a program helping them to do this. The two organizations also support key institutions where samples – which might be useful to derive vaccines in an emergency – can be safely stored. Alternatively, countries might upgrade their holding facilities in conformity with FAO and OIE supervision protocols.
So far, however, progress in eliminating residual holdings has proven slow. Only in the African Union has there been a regional agreement to sequester all virus samples in a single selected facility.
Original source: FAO
Published on 22 November 2018
