Rinderpest virus (RPV) (RPV)

Rinderpest virus (RPV) is a highly contagious, single-stranded, negative-sense RNA virus belonging to the genus Morbillivirus within the family Paramyxoviridae (Baron et al., 2011). It was the causative agent of rinderpest, a devastating disease of cattle and other artiodactyls characterized by high fever, necrotic stomatitis, and severe diarrhea, often leading to mortality rates exceeding 90% (Roeder et al., 2013). The virus enters host cells by utilizing its hemagglutinin (H) and fusion (F) glycoproteins to bind to receptors such as the signaling lymphocytic activation molecule (SLAM/CD150) and nectin-4 (Baron, 2021). While RPV is a pathogen rather than a specific therapeutic target, its proteins were the focus of the Plowright vaccine, a live-attenuated tissue culture vaccine that was instrumental in the global eradication effort (Plowright & Ferris, 1962). In 2011, the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) officially declared rinderpest eradicated, making it the first animal disease and the second disease in history to be eliminated by human intervention (WOAH, 2011).

Other names

Cattle plagueSteppe murrainPestis bovina

Vaccines induce neutralizing antibodies against viral surface glycoproteins (Hemagglutinin and Fusion proteins) to block viral attachment and entry into host cells.