23 November 2010, Nairobi - Dr. Francis Gakuya, Head of Veterinary Services at the Kenya Wildlife Service, speaking during an interview at its Nairobi headquarters. An ambitious global effort has brought Rinderpest, a deadly cattle plague, to the brink of extinction, paving the way for official eradication of the disease.
It would be the first time in history that humankind has succeeded in wiping out an animal disease in the wild, and only the second time, after smallpox in 1980, that a disease has been eliminated thanks to human efforts.