Names: RPvirus.
German: Rinderpest.
English: Cattle plague; Steppe murrain.
Clades:
Paramyxoviridae family.
VirologyVirus: Morbillivirus, related to measles virus; it produces enveloped virions, and is a negative-sense single-stranded RNA virus; fragile and is quickly inactivated by heat, desiccation and sunlight.
Infectious viral disease of cattle, domestic buffalo, many other species of even-toed ungulates, including buffaloes, large antelope, deer, giraffes, wildebeests, warthogs.
Symptoms: fever, oral erosions, diarrhoea, lymphoid necrosis; loss of appetite, nasal and eye discharges; irregular erosions appear in the mouth, nose, and genital tract; acute diarrhea, preceded by constipation, is also a common feature.
Fatality: high mortality, approaching 100% in immunologically naïve populations; death occurs 6 to 12 days after the onset.
Transmission: direct contact; by drinking contaminated water; also be transmitted by air.
Culture: a global eradication campaign since the mid-20th century led to the last confirmed case of rinderpest in 2001.
Origin: Asia; 600 BC, coinciding with the rise of large human settlements.