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Famous veterinarian Walter Plowright, CMG, FRS, FRCVS is dead (February 19, 2010): developed vaccine against rinderpest …a ‘One Health in Action’ example of where veterinary medicine has contributed significantly to human well-being Dr. Walter Plowright, a renowned veterinary medical scientist, was recognized with the 1999 World Food Prize for his development of tissue culture rinderpest vaccine (TCRV).  This is considered the key element in the quest to eliminate rinderpest, or cattle plague, from farms and herds worldwide.  An announcement is expected shortly this year stating the eradication of rinderpest, the first animal disease to be eliminated worldwide; human smallpox was the first to be eradicated in 1979. Rinderpest is a disease of cattle, buffaloes, some pigs, and numerous species of wild ungulates. Historically, the virus was repeatedly responsible for causing tremendous havoc among livestock from at least the time of the decline of the Roman Empire.   Losses frequently amounted to millions of animals annually. The resulting famines, social and political unrest, [sometimes war] were all too common until the acceptance of strict controls in Europe in the late 18th century. Please see http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/obituaries/article7039788.ece