Identifying and Reducing Remaining Stocks of Rinderpest Virus

Hamilton, Keith; Visser, Dawid; Evans, B A; Vallat, Bernard

doi:10.3201/eid2112.150227

Cited by 10 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 8 publications

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“…To limit hazardous events of unintentional bacteria and viral laboratory outbreaks, international efforts should focus on ensuring that all remaining stocks of infectious material are destroyed or stored safely in a minimum number of approved high‐containment facilities (Hamilton et al., ). Next to this, and upon a high and emerging risk of infectious diseases due to resurrected or frozen pathogens, management strategies can be undertaken.…”

Section: Conclusion and Future Avenuesmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Back to the future in a petri dish: Origin and impact of resurrected microbes in natural populations

Houwenhuyse

Macke

Reyserhove

et al. 2017

Evolutionary Applications

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Current natural populations face new interactions because of the re‐emergence of ancient microbes and viruses. These risks come from the re‐emergence of pathogens kept in laboratories or from pathogens that are retained in the permafrost, which become available upon thawing due to climate change. We here focus on the effects of such re‐emergence in natural host populations based on evolutionary theory of virulence and long‐term studies, which investigate host–pathogen adaptations. Pathogens tend to be locally and temporally adapted to their co‐occurring hosts, but when pathogens from a different environment or different time enter the host community, the degree to which a new host–pathogen interaction is a threat will depend on the specific genotypic associations, the time lag between the host and the pathogen, and the interactions with native or recent host and pathogen species. Some insights can be obtained from long‐term studies using a resurrection ecology approach. These long‐term studies based on time‐shift experiments are essential to obtain insight into the mechanisms underlying host–pathogen coevolution at several ecological and temporal scales. As past pathogens and their corresponding host(s) can differ in infectivity and susceptibility, strong reciprocal selective pressures can be induced by the pathogen. These strong selective pressures often result in an escalating arms race, but do not necessarily result in increased infectivity over time. Human health can also be impacted by these resurrected pathogens as the majority of emerging infectious diseases are zoonoses, which are infectious diseases originating from animal populations naturally transmitted to humans. The sanitary risk associated with pathogen emergence from different environments (spatial or temporal) depends on a combination of socioeconomic, environmental, and ecological factors that affect the virulence or the pathogenic potential of microbes and their ability to infect susceptible host populations.

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Section: Conclusion and Future Avenuesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…facilities (Hamilton et al, 2015). Next to this, and upon a high and emerging risk of infectious diseases due to resurrected or frozen pathogens, management strategies can be undertaken.…”

Section: Conclusion and Future Avenuesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Back to the future in a petri dish: Origin and impact of resurrected microbes in natural populations

Houwenhuyse

Macke

Reyserhove

et al. 2017

Evolutionary Applications

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…These messages were disseminated through a media campaign which included a short film (first aired to the OIE World Assembly of Delegates in 2012) (18), a pamphlet entitled 'Ten reasons not to store rinderpest virus' (17), press releases, and scientific publications (7,19). The FAO-OIE Secretariat and other key figures linked to rinderpest were proactive, speaking at conferences, meetings, and conventions.…”

Section: Encouragement Through Communication and Advocacymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Today, rinderpest is still considered to be a potential bio-weapon agent and, as such, it is feared that terrorists may be tempted to use it. Although natural infections have been eliminated, potentially infective material accumulated over the past century (including virus that had been grown in laboratories, stocks of vaccine virus, and diagnostic samples collected during outbreaks) remains stored in freezers in a number of laboratories around the world (7). The potential for accidental or intentional release of this material into a susceptible animal population now poses a risk for reoccurrence of disease.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Rinderpest eradication: challenges for remaining disease free and implications for future eradication efforts

Hamilton¹,

Baron²,

Matsuo³

et al. 2017

Rev. Sci. Tech. OIE

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In 2011, the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) declared global freedom from rinderpest, formally announcing that rinderpest virus infections had been eliminated from susceptible livestock populations. At the same time, it was recognised that rinderpest virus, and material containing rinderpest virus, remained stored in an unspecified number of facilities across the world. Although natural infections had been eliminated, there remained a risk that rinderpest could reoccur if such infectious material accidentally leaked or was intentionally released from one of these facilities into a susceptible animal population. To minimise this risk, the OIE and FAO, with the support of international partners, set in place a framework to: reduce the quantity of remaining rinderpest-virus-containing material; ensure that such material was only stored in high-security facilities; regulate any handling or manipulation of the virus; maintain vigilance amongst livestock keepers and Veterinary Services in the post-eradication era; and develop contingency plans to deal with any suspected or actual reoccurrence of rinderpest disease. In 2016, five years after the declaration of global freedom from rinderpest, official reports to the OIE show that virus and virus-containing material remain stored in 21 countries worldwide in 22 separate facilities, of which only five have been inspected and approved for holding rinderpest virus or vaccine. There is still much work to be done to further reduce the risk of a reoccurrence.

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“…While rinderpest does not exist in the wild, several countries maintain rinderpest samples and vaccines as a hedge against reintroduction ( 3 ), although this number is decreasing with 3 African countries removing their stores in 2016 ( 4 ). Current maintenance of virus and vaccine stocks is a balancing act between risk and reward.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Decision Support for Mitigation of Livestock Disease: Rinderpest as a Case Study

et al. 2018

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A versatile, interactive model to predict geographically resolved epidemic progression after pathogen introduction into a population is presented. Deterministic simulations incorporating a compartmental disease model run rapidly, facilitating the analysis of mitigations such as vaccination and transmission reduction on epidemic spread and progression. We demonstrate the simulation model using rinderpest infection of cattle, a devastating livestock disease. Rinderpest has been extinguished in the wild, but it is still a threat due to stored virus in some laboratories. Comparison of simulations to historical outbreaks provides some validation of the model. Simulations of potential outbreaks demonstrate potential consequences of rinderpest virus release for a variety of possible disease parameters and mitigations. Our results indicate that a rinderpest outbreak could result in severe social and economic consequences.

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Identifying and Reducing Remaining Stocks of Rinderpest Virus

Abstract: Virus-containing material remains stored in an unacceptably high number of facilities worldwide.

Cited by 10 publications

References 8 publications

Back to the future in a petri dish: Origin and impact of resurrected microbes in natural populations

Back to the future in a petri dish: Origin and impact of resurrected microbes in natural populations

Rinderpest eradication: challenges for remaining disease free and implications for future eradication efforts

Decision Support for Mitigation of Livestock Disease: Rinderpest as a Case Study

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