World Body OIE declares India free from Rinderpest infection

New Delhi, June 9 (UNI) OIE, world body on animal health, has declared India free from the dreaded Rinderpest infection (an acute viral disease affecting the intestinal tract) at its meeting recently held in Paris.

The dossier for the consideration of the OIE for ''Freedom From Rinderpest Infection'' status as on November 1, 2004 was submitted to Director General OIE on August 22, 2005.

The revised National Project on Rinderpest Eradication (NPRE) was launched with assistance from European Union in 1990 and by 1995 the incidence got reduced to 1-2 seizures per million bovine population.

The NPRE is aimed at eradicating Rinderpest following the O.I.E.

pathway in three successive stages of Provisional Freedom From Disease, Freedom From Disease and Freedom From Infection.

With the attainment of second stage of Freedom from Rinderpest disease for the entire country, a programme of Rinderpest Serosurveillance was started, which aimed at achieving the third and final stage of ''Freedom From Rinderpest Infection''.

This programme too was executed in 3 phases for 3 consecutive years, that is, Phase I (November 2001 to October 2002) Phase II (November 2002 to October 2003) and Phase III (November 2003 to October 2004).

Rinderpest, the premier scourge of bovines, was known to occur in India since time immemorial. In early 1950s, about 400,000 cases of Rinderpest used to occur in a year in 8,000 outbreaks out of which about 200,000 used to die.

A National Rinderpest Eradication Programme was launched in 1955-1956 where in cattle and buffaloes above 6 months age were mass vaccinated using Goat Tissue Virus Vaccine (GTV- Edwards Strain) developed in India.

After one round of mass vaccination, follow up vaccination of left over and new born was undertaken. The mass vaccination drive continued for a decade. Although mass vaccination controlled Rinderpest over vast areas of the country, the disease lurked on in inter state borders, where vigilance units and check posts were established for developing immune zones and for vaccinating bovines on livestock movement routes.

From early seventies, Rinderpest tissue culture vaccine (Plowrite and Ferris strain from Africa) was used. In mid Seventies, Rinderpest surveillance and containment vaccination programme was launched which kept the disease largely under control. But in spite of these successive campaigns, sporadic cases were occurring in certain pockets in the country.

Rinderpest also occurred in sheep, goats and pigs, in wild buffaloes and in blue bulls.

The current initiative on Rinderpest eradication was more focussed, with emphasis on surveillance and was in line with the Global Rinderpest Eradication Programme (GREP).

This recognition of India as free from rinderpest infection is a great achievement. It is the first animal disease to be officially recognised by OIE as having been eradicated from India.

UNI BBS-JSS VJ KN1446