The World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) has officially declared that rinderpest (cattle plague) has been eradicated. All 198 countries that have animals susceptible to this devastating disease have been recognised as rinderpest-free. This announcement was made at the 79th General Session of the OIE World Assembly of National Delegates in Paris on 25th May 2011.
The Institute for Animal Health played a major role in the eradication campaign, particularly with respect to the design of cutting-edge diagnostic tests, performing thousands of tests at IAH Pirbright, the training of diagnosticians (both at IAH Pirbright and in Africa and Asia), and the establishing of diagnostic procedures in Africa and Asia.
Dr John Anderson, former Head of the Rinderpest Reference Laboratory on behalf of OIE, FAO, and the EU, situated at IAH Pirbright, led the IAH work.
You can read about the history of rinderpest, attempts to control it, and the final campaign for eradication on this page.
The IAH's Dr Michael Baron talks about the momentous nature of this achievement on the BBSRC website and, with Dr John Anderson, discusses it on YouTube.