FAO Declares Global Eradication of Rinderpest

The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization passed a resolution in Rome confirming the global eradication of rinderpest, a viral disease that had killed millions of cattle, buffalo, and wild ungulates for centuries. The campaign combined thermostable vaccines developed with IAEA support, epidemiological surveillance networks across Africa and Asia, and coordinated national eradication programs running since 1989. Rinderpest became the second disease eradicated after smallpox, and the first animal disease eliminated through deliberate intervention.