Rinderpest eradication and the resilience of African pastoralism

Rinderpest eradication is often presented as a landmark in veterinary public health; less systematically examined are its medium- and long-term implications for pastoral systems that rely on mobility and collective rangeland use. This narrative review synthesises historical and contemporary evidence on (i) how rinderpest shocks interacted with pastoral livelihoods during the African pandemic and subsequent outbreaks, and (ii) how eradication-era approaches to surveillance, vaccination logistics and field delivery shaped later models for controlling transboundary animal diseases. It is argued that the same features underpinning pastoral resilience–mobility, flexible herd management, and social networks–may also increase disease exposure and hinder sustained access to veterinary services, particularly where service delivery models remain campaign-centred and externally financed. Although the eradication of rinderpest produced substantial welfare gains, these benefits were uneven and were often limited by the ongoing burden of other infectious diseases (e.g., peste des petits ruminants, foot-and-mouth disease) and by under-resourced routine animal health systems. Lessons for current eradication initiatives can be drawn: credible surveillance needs to be embedded within locally legitimate institutions; vaccination strategies should be aligned with seasonal mobility and market networks; and enabling environments for Community Animal Health Workers are essential to sustain coverage beyond time-limited programmes. These insights help reposition rinderpest eradication as both a success story and a cautionary case for designing equitable, durable animal health services in pastoral settings following a One Health approach.