The Long Road to Eradicate Rinderpest

Rinderpest, which means cattle-plague in German, has been recognized as a distinct clinical entity since the great European epizootic of A.D. 376 to 386. It is an infectious viral disease that is highly contagious, affecting many species of the order Artiodactyla, including ruminants of the families Bovidae, Cervidae, Giraffidae, Tragulidae, and Camelidae, and also wild and domesticated swine. In addition to severe symptoms, fears of rinderpest infection in animals arise because it has a fatality rate of about 80 percent...