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The following is a preview abstract of a “Rinderpest” presentation to be given by Dr. Paul Gibbs at:   The One Health Initiative Symposium: Vaccination of Animals for Prevention and Control of Zoonotic Diseases   American Society for Tropical Medicine and Hygiene – 59th Annual Meeting - www.astmh.org   November 3-7, 2010 Marriott Atlanta Marquis Hotel Atlanta, Georgia (USA)   A symposium organized jointly by members of the ASTMH and the Society for Tropical Veterinary Medicine (STVM) http://www.soctropvetmed.org/ deals with the broad subject of One Health.   Marriott – Room A704, Thursday, November 4, 2010, 3:45 p.m. – 5:30 p.m.     The Symposium focuses on vaccines, considered the most cost effective means of disease prevention.  The role of vaccines in preventing the spread of disease from animals to humans will be explored.  Speakers will address examples where vaccination in animal species (livestock, poultry and wildlife) for zoonotic disease agents is used or could be used in order to reduce the risk of human disease.    Specific examples are drawn from important human diseases cause by viral agents of animals.  Speakers will address the potential for additional impact on disease risk reduction for selected vaccine-preventable diseases as well as opportunities for vaccine interventions.   _____________________________________________   Recognition of the Global Eradication of Rinderpest    “The global eradication of rinderpest and its significance for “One World, One Health”   Rinderpest has been known for many millennia, and, wherever it occurred, it has been the most dreaded animal disease, strongly affecting livestock, rural livelihoods and food security.  It is an acute, highly contagious, viral disease of cattle, domesticated buffalo and some species of wildlife.  At one time, epidemics of rinderpest occurred regularly in Eurasia. In 1889, cattle shipped from India carried the rinderpest virus to Africa, causing an epidemic that established the virus on the continent. Initially, approximately 90% of the cattle in sub-Saharan Africa and many sheep and goats died. Wild buffalo, giraffe and wildebeest populations were decimated. The loss of plow animals, herds, and hunting resulted in mass starvation, killing an estimated third of the human population in Ethiopia and two-thirds of the Maasai people of Tanzania. The reduction in the number of grazing animals also allowed thickets to form in grasslands. These thickets provided breeding grounds for tsetse flies, resulting in an outbreak of sleeping sickness in humans. Some consider this epidemic to have been the most catastrophic natural disaster ever to affect Africa.   In 1994, the Global Rinderpest Eradication Programme (GREP) was launched with FAO spearheading an initiative to consolidate gains in rinderpest control and to move towards disease eradication. In close association with the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE), GREP was conceived as an international coordination mechanism to promote the global eradication of rinderpest and verification of rinderpest freedom.  From the outset, this ambitious initiative set its goal for global rinderpest eradication by 2010.  This is the second time that a disease has been eradicated worldwide after smallpox in humans.  As with *smallpox, the eradication of rinderpest was based on the use of vaccination. In some countries, rinderpest vaccination created opportunities for “One Health” teams to operate in the villages thereby increasing the vaccination rate of children.   The eradication of rinderpest was accomplished by a world-wide commitment and support to: 1.      establish the geographical distribution and epidemiology of the disease; 2.      contain rinderpest within the infected eco-systems; 3.      eliminate reservoirs of infection through rigorous early detection, reporting and response systems. Once evidence accumulated that the virus had apparently been eradicated, activities progressively focused on establishing surveillance systems to prove the absence of the disease. This model emphasizes the basic requirements that are needed for effective disease prevention, control and elimination, and validates the importance of sustainable programs to address current and future infectious disease threats under the umbrella of “One Health”. See http://www.fao.org/news/story/en/item/46383/icode/ for more information. Paul Gibbs, BVSc, PhD, FRCVS, University of Florida, Tammy Beckham, DVM, PhD, Texas A&M University, and Karen Becker, DVM, MPH, Senior Animal Health Advisor, USAID and USDA Provided by: Dr. Paul Gibbs Associate Dean for Students and Instruction Professor of Virology Office for Students and Instruction Suite V1-100 College of Veterinary Medicine University of Florida Gainesville, Florida 32610, USA E-mail pgibbs@ufl.edu    Office Tel 1-352-294-4272   Desk Tel 1-352-294-4233 Mobile Tel 1-352-339-3650 www.vetmed.ufl.edu/college/administration/osi/ Also see:  pdf - The Global Rinderpest Eradication Programme and http://www.vetsweb.com/news/fao-official-eradication-of-rinderpest-nearby-1542.html. http://www.onehealthinitiative.com/endorsements.php   ONE HEALTH (One Medicine) Supporter  D.A.Henderson, MD, MPHProfessor of Medicine and Public Health, University of Pittsburgh. Resident Scholar, Center for Biosecurity, U. of Pittsburgh Medical Center.Johns Hopkins University Distinguished Service Professor. Dean Emeritus, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.Pier IV Building, Suite 210, Baltimore, Maryland 21202 *April 22, 2007 Dr. D. A. Henderson, legendary leader of the worldwide smallpox eradication program. “I thank you for your email and congratulate you and your colleagues in promoting the One Medicine concept. It is an initiative that is long overdue but, at the same time, I dont personally identify dramatic solutions that are apt to change the landscape in the short term. I would note that when one has had the good fortune to have enjoyed the tutelage of Jim Steele [DVM, MPH] during my tenure at CDC and periodically ever since, as a friend, the one medicine concept becomes well engrained. Indeed, when I came to Hopkins as Dean in 1977, I cast about to determine how we might link up with a veterinary school for research and educational purposes. Unfortunately, geography was simply too great a hurdle to overcome. Bottom line: I would be more than happy to do whatever I could in support of your efforts.”