For a disease to be eradicable it needs to be a disease you can “catch” from other humans or animals, that is it has to be infectious. Non-infectious diseases, such as heart disease or cancer, cannot be eradicated. Without an effective treatment against a disease there is no possibility of eradicating it.
For most other human infections, eradication is not currently possible—and might never be. To determine if an infectious disease can be eradicated, scientists must consider a host of factors—from how effectively the disease can be prevented to whether there is political support for eradication.
So far, only two diseases have been successfully eradicated—one specifically affecting humans (smallpox) and one affecting cattle (rinderpest).
The last known natural case was in Somalia in 1977. In 1980 WHO declared smallpox eradicated – the only infectious disease to achieve this distinction. This remains among the most notable and profound public health successes in history.
Many of the diseases that have been eradicated (smallpox and rinderpest) or targeted for elimination by WHO, such as polio, malaria, measles and rubella, are present in multiple countries. However, as a disease approaches eradication, disease incidence becomes more geographically restricted.
There is no cure for polio; it can only be prevented by immunization. The polio vaccine, given multiple times, can protect a child for life. More than 20 million people are able to walk today who would otherwise have been paralysed, since 1988, when the Global Polio Eradication Initiative was launched.
World Free of Smallpox
Almost two centuries after Jenner hoped that vaccination could annihilate smallpox, the 33rd World Health Assembly declared the world free of this disease on May 8, 1980. Many people consider smallpox eradication to be the biggest achievement in international public health.
Because the spores are always present in the environment, it cannot be eradicated. The best protection against tetanus is to be vaccinated and boosted on-time throughout the lifespan. The World Health Organization recommends at least 6 doses of tetanus toxoid-containing vaccine for lifelong protection.
Thanks to vaccines, measles, rubella, and polio have officially been eliminated in the United States.
Cancer. Cancer refers to the uncontrolled growth of abnormal cells in the body. This can affect almost any organ or tissue including lungs, breast, colon, skin and ovaries. Due to the complexity of the disease and the variety of forms it can take, developing a cure has proven difficult.
1. The Black Death: Bubonic Plague. The Black Death ravaged most of Europe and the Mediterranean from 1346 until 1353. Over 50 million people died, more than 60% of Europe's entire population at the time.
“So yeah, basically it's looking very unlikely,” he says. For an infectious disease to be considered eradicated, there cannot be a single case of it worldwide. So far, the only human infectious disease to be eradicated is smallpox, in 1980.
“We generally say: Several thousand diseases affect humans of which only about 500 have any U.S. Food and Drug Administration-approved treatment,” said Cindy McConnell, a spokeswoman at NIH's National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS).
In 1980, the World Health Assembly declared smallpox eradicated (eliminated), and no cases of naturally occurring smallpox have happened since.
The disease itself is rare in the United States because the tetanus vaccine is so effective and is regularly administered to our population. However, the bacteria that causes tetanus isn't rare, and its spores are found most commonly in dust, soil, feces and saliva.
It's usually OK to receive an extra booster of the tetanus vaccine. Vaccination is the best way to prevent tetanus — a serious disease caused by a bacterial toxin that affects the nervous system.
Maternal and Neonatal Tetanus is a Public Health Problem in 12 Countries and Tetanus Still Affects People Globally. Worldwide, 75 million women and their babies remain unprotected against maternal and neonatal tetanus.
The smallpox vaccine is no longer available to the public. In 1972, routine smallpox vaccination in the United States ended. In 1980, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared smallpox was eliminated. Because of this, the public doesn't need protection from the disease.
Vaccination has made an enormous contribution to global health. Two major infections, smallpox and rinderpest, have been eradicated.
Edward Jenner, the English physician who first developed the smallpox vaccine in 1796, believed that vaccination caused a fundamental change in personal constitution and would lead to lifelong immunity to smallpox. Unfortunately, this proved to be incorrect. It is now clear that immunity wanes over time.
Discovery. Pithovirus sibericum was discovered in a 30,000-year-old sample of Siberian permafrost by Chantal Abergel and Jean-Michel Claverie of Aix-Marseille University. The virus was discovered buried 30 m (100 ft) below the surface of a late Pleistocene sediment.
RPI Deficiency
This is considered to be the rarest disease in the world. Ribose-5-Phosphate Isomerase (RPI), is a crucial enzyme in a metabolic process in the human body. This condition can cause muscle stiffness, seizures, and reduction of white matter in the brain.
Mimivirus is the largest and most complex virus known.