Eradication of infectious diseases
Two diseases eradicated; polio and Guinea worm targeted globally.
Eradication of infectious diseases refers to the permanent reduction of the global prevalence of a disease to zero. It is distinguished from elimination, which is the reduction of prevalence to zero in a specific region or to a negligible global level. Only two diseases have been successfully eradicated: smallpox in humans and rinderpest in ruminants.
Quick Facts
- Last natural smallpox case
- Ali Maow Maalin
- Somalia
- 26 October 1977
- Smallpox eradication certified
- 9 December 1979
- First livestock disease eradicated
- Rinderpest
- Rinderpest eradication announced
- 14 October 2010
Facts from the source article.
Eradicated diseases
Two diseases have been successfully eradicated: smallpox, which affected humans, and rinderpest, which affected cattle. Smallpox was the first human infectious disease eradicated by deliberate intervention. Edward Jenner demonstrated the protective effect of cowpox inoculation in 1798, leading to the first effective vaccine. Smallpox occurred in two forms: variola major, with a mortality rate up to 40 percent, and variola minor, with a mortality rate under one percent. The last naturally occurring variola major case was diagnosed in Bangladesh in October 1975. The final natural smallpox case, variola minor, was diagnosed on 26 October 1977 in Ali Maow Maalin in Somalia. An international commission certified global eradication on 9 December 1979, and the World Health Organization endorsed it on 8 May 1980. Debate continues over the storage of smallpox virus in US and Russian labs, as a release could cause a new epidemic among those born after vaccinations ceased. Rinderpest, a viral disease of cattle and other ruminants related to measles, was eradicated through a campaign led by the Food and Agriculture Organization. On 14 October 2010, with no diagnoses for nine years, the FAO announced complete eradication, making it the first livestock disease eradicated by human efforts.
Global eradication underway
The Global Polio Eradication Initiative was launched in 1988 by the World Health Organization, Rotary International, UNICEF, and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, aiming to eradicate polio by 2000. The strategy includes routine immunization, supplementary campaigns, and outbreak surveillance. The Americas were declared polio-free in 1994, the Western Pacific region in 2000, Europe in 2002, Southeast Asia in 2014, and Africa in 2020. The lowest annual wild polio prevalence was six cases in 2021. Wild poliovirus type 2 was declared eradicated worldwide on 20 September 2015, and wild poliovirus type 3 on 24 October 2019. Only wild poliovirus type 1 and vaccine-derived polio remain in isolated pockets. Dracunculiasis, or Guinea worm disease, is a parasitic disease spread through drinking water infested with copepods carrying Dracunculus larvae. The Carter Center, along with the CDC, WHO, UNICEF, and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, leads the eradication effort. It is slated to become the first parasitic disease ever eradicated.
Regional elimination established or underway
Some diseases have been eliminated from large regions or are targeted for regional elimination, sometimes called eradication though the term technically applies only globally. Micro-elimination refers to elimination from a target population within a geographical area. Even after regional elimination, interventions often continue to prevent re-establishment. Lymphatic filariasis, measles, and rubella are among diseases the International Task Force for Disease Eradication considers potentially eradicable; regional elimination may be a stepping stone to global programs. There is no global commitment to eliminate helminthiasis aside from dracunculiasis and lymphatic filariasis, but the London Declaration on Neglected Tropical Diseases and the WHO aim to control worm infections such as schistosomiasis and soil-transmitted helminthiasis. Hookworm infects an estimated 576 to 740 million people, with about 80 million severely affected. The WHO originally aimed to control soil-transmitted helminthiasis by 2020 so it no longer posed a serious public health problem in children, with 75 percent receiving deworming. By 2018, an average of 60 percent of school children were reached, but only 16 countries reached over 75 percent coverage of pre-school children and 28 countries reached over 75 percent coverage of school-age children. In 2018, the number of endemic countries was estimated at 96, down from 112 in 2010. Donations of 3.3 billion deworming tablets from GlaxoSmithKline and Johnson & Johnson since 2010 supported progress. In 2019, the WHO updated targets to eliminate morbidity of STH by 2030, with less than 2 percent of children infected in all 98 endemic countries.
Eradicable diseases in animals
Many experts believe peste des petits ruminants (PPR), or ovine rinderpest, is the next disease amenable to global eradication. PPR is a highly contagious viral disease of goats and sheep caused by a Morbillivirus related to rinderpest, measles, and canine distemper. The World Organisation for Animal Health prioritizes African swine fever, bovine tuberculosis, foot and mouth disease, and PPR.
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