Rinderpest (RP) is a infectious viral disease of cattle, domestic buffalo, and some species of wildlife, it is commonly referred to as cattle plague. It is characterized by fever, oral erosions, diarrhea, lymphoid necrosis, and high mortality.

Rinderpest was established as an infectious disease in 1754 when susceptible animals were infected by placing bits of material previously dipped in morbid discharge into an incision made in the dewlap. In 1899, cattle were infected with a bacteria-free fitrate.

An epidemic in the 1890s killed 80 to 90 percent of all cattle in sub-Saharan Africa. More recently, another rinderpest outbreak that raged across much of Africa in 1982-84 is estimated to have cost at least US$500 million in stock losses.

Dr. Walter Plowright was awarded the World Food Prize in 1999, for developing a vaccine against rinderpest. The FAO predicts that with vaccination the cattle plague will be eradicated by 2010 [1].

Allegedly, eliminating rinderpest in East Africa paved the way for canine distemper in lions, because it permitted the accumulation of cattle, which required dogs to herd them, which provided a steady source for the virus that could spread to lions.