WOAH awards Members for securely storing and destroying rinderpest materials

During WOAH’s 92nd General Session, a new certificate was issued to award Members that have undertaken significant efforts to sequester and destroy Rinderpest materials held in their facilities.

The awarded Members are France, for the complete destruction of all rinderpest materials except for vaccines for international preparedness, and India, for having been designated as a Rinderpest Holding Facility (RHF) and embarking on the pathway towards inventory reduction as part of its new mandate. The event marks the first time that WOAH Members receive such a recognition and a milestone for the organisation in its long-term efforts to maintain the world free from the eradicated disease – ultimately ensuring everyone’s health. 

Rinderpest is remembered as one of the most devastating cattle diseases ever recorded in history. Also known as cattle plague, the disease has its most profound effects on livestock-dependent communities, causing widespread starvation and shaking the agricultural sector to the core. The eradication of rinderpest was declared in 2011, making it the second viral disease to be eradicated after smallpox in the 1980s. In economic terms, the global benefits of the hard-won freedom from the disease are believed to have amounted to billions of dollars.  

Despite its successful eradication in the field, rinderpest virus has not been entirely eliminated from laboratories, with twelve institutions across the world still holding samples. The presence of the virus poses a risk for the accidental re-introduction of the disease and – although to a lesser extent – the deliberate release by the hands of malicious actors. Members of the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) and the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations (FAO) agreed to store the virus only in highly secure Rinderpest Holding Facilities (RHFs) that have been inspected and approved jointly by the two organisations, which make up eight out of the twelve laboratories. 

Today, the best way to prevent rinderpest from reemerging is to ensure that rinderpest virus containing material is destroyed. However, some scientists have raised concerns over the irreversible loss of virological and genetic data as well as intellectual property that comes with the virus destruction. This is why an initiative encouraging RHFs to perform genomic sequencing of rinderpest materials ahead of their destruction has been broadly uptaken. 

The implementation of the first “Sequence and destroy” project was led by scientists at The Pirbright Institute – one of the eight  Rinderpest Holding Facilities, with the aim to eliminate virus samples held in the Institute, as explained by Dr Carrie Batten, Head of the Non-Vesicular Reference Laboratory at Pirbright. 

The Sequence and destroy project has three specific outputs: 

1. Genetic data pertaining to historical rinderpest isolates;  
2. Establishment of a permanent archive of genetic, epidemiological and pathological data;
3. Destruction of rinderpest virus. 

There are multiple benefits to establishing a permanent archive of genetic data. Should live virus ever be needed again, advances in synthetic biology have made it possible to reconstitute the virus with relative ease, based on the sequence data, to support research on viral evolution and to inform control of other animal and human diseases caused by similar viruses, including peste des petits ruminants virus (PPR). This means that, if there was ever a re-occurrence of rinderpest, having genetic information readily available in public databases would help investigate it and track the source of the virus. 

“We still have a lot to understand about rinderpest, as the eradication campaigns may have had impacts on the evolution of the [rinderpest] virus itself and other closely related pathogens such as Peste des Petits Ruminants virus”, explains Dr Arnaud Bataille from the French Agricultural Research Centre for International Development (CIRAD).  With France being awarded the certificate at this year’s General Session, CIRAD has proved worthy of the trust of the international community to safely maintain and destroy rinderpest virus.

This is a historical achievement. The latest developments with the ‘Sequence & destroy’ project teach us that it is essential to retain knowledge of the disease, which may prove vital for understanding the diseases of tomorrow.

Marie-Christine Le Gal, WOAH’s Delegate of France.

Overall, the rinderpest success story – from its groundbreaking eradication to the most recent post-eradication efforts and the sequencing of the world’s last virus stocks before their removal – is a source of inspiration for the global health community. “Rinderpest offers a powerful example of strong unity and shared sense of purpose within a profession,” concludes Dr Le Gal. “This unity has allowed the entire sector to be organised, act responsibly and make practical progress. It’s a model we should remember and learn from as our field faces new, unpredictable challenges.”  

Looking forward, WOAH supports its Network of Rinderpest Holding Facilities in following CIRAD’s example by destroying their holdings of rinderpest materials, except for vaccines for international preparedness. WOAH Members who continue to keep rinderpest materials outside of designated Rinderpest Holding Facilities are encouraged to either destroy them or to submit an application to be considered as a candidate Rinderpest Holding Facility.