1890s African rinderpest epizootic
In the 1890s, an epizootic of the rinderpest virus struck all across Africa, but primarily in Eastern and Southern Africa. It was considered to be "the most devastating epidemic to hit southern Africa in the late nineteenth century."[1] It killed more than 5.2 million cattle south of the Zambezi,[2] as well as domestic oxen, sheep, and goats, and wild populations of buffalo, giraffe, and wildebeest. The effects of the outbreak were drastic, leading to massive famine, economic collapse, as well as disease outbreak in humans. Starvation spread across the region, resulting in the death of an estimated third of the human population of Ethiopia and two-thirds of the Maasai people of Tanzania.[3]
The famine and the massive decrease in cattle population, led to a change in the landscape from grass to thornbush.[4] This formed the ideal habitat for tsetse fly and allowed them to expand from central and western African to the rest of the continent. Tsetse fly carry the parasite that causes the deadly African sleeping sickness. This disease, which affected both humans and animals, further exacerbated the economic and social effects of rinderpest on Africans.[4] The Rinderpest epizootic facilitated further colonial conquest by creating famine, economic dislocation, and landscape trnasformations. .[5]
Origin of Rinderpest in Africa
Rinderpest had been common in Europe before the Scramble for Africa and European colonialism of Sub-Saharan Africa. Despite the familiarity of Rinderpest to Europeans, it had ceased to become a problem in many countries, such as Germany, through modern veterinary policing and cross-border regulation of the cattle trade.[6] The origin of rinderpest in Africa is unknown, in Egypt, rinderpest was first identified in 1841, and 665,000 cattle perished.[7] However, rinderpest had not crossed the Sahara until the 1880s. The spread was rapid, trickling in from inland regions during the German pacification campaigns of the 1880s and 1890s. Rinderpest was referred to as sadoka in East Africa. The virus is potentially thought to have been introduced into Eritrea in 1887 by Indian cattle brought by the Italians for their campaign against Somalia. Evidence of rinderpest in cattle in Eritrea and Ethiopia can be seen almost a decade before the devastation in Southern Africa. The Emperor of Ethiopia was said to have lost over 250,000 cattle. In addition, a serious outbreak of rinderpest had been reported in Bombay in 1882. A popular Ethiopian tradition assets that the Italians deliberately inoculated their cattle with rinderpest as part of their campaign against Ethiopia.[8] It spread throughout the Horn of Africa, and crossed the Zambezi in March 1896.
German officials of German East Africa and other Europeans originally identified sadoka as a disease unique to rinderpest, and argued that it was spread by Africans. Many Africans believed the disease was a product of the European influence.[9]
Regional impact of the rinderpest virus across Africa
Rinderpest was able to spread efficiently from the northeast to the south of Africa due to beneficial environmental conditions. [10] The virus was spread though close contact at water sources such as watering holes and rivers where cattle and other mammals would gather. Local wild buffalo played a key role in the infection of the cattle of the Maasai people. In three years, rinderpest travelled 8000km from the Southern Sahel Massawa to Dakar in West Africa although it took another year to travel south to the Zambezi before it infected groups in Bulawayo in modern Zimbabwe.[11] In addition, Africa experienced a series of unfortunately timed meteorological El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) events between late 1880s to the early 1890s. This caused major droughts throughout the continent from the horn of Africa down to south Africa which caused massive concentrations of populations to gather at water sources. This encouraged the spread of the virus as it allowed large numbers to get infected quickly in a short amount of time. [12] Frederick Lugard, future Governor-General of Nigeria, is noted to have said, "Never before in the memory of man, or by the voice of tradition, have the cattle died in such vast numbers; never before has the wild game suffered. Nearly all the buffalo and eland are gone."[13]
Rinderpest in West Africa
In addition to Eastern and Southern Africa, rinderpest also spread across West Africa and decimated the cattle of the Hausa-Fulani people. 80-90% of all the cattle of the Fulani died. Rinderpest is believed to have arrived in the Ouaddaï Region by 1891, and Parfait-Louis Monteil's expedition into West Africa encountered "cattle plague" in what is now Dori, Burkina Faso in April of 1891. In French West Africa and German Cameroon, 98% of all the cattle in the region had died.[14] In Hausa, the epizootic was referred to as "sannu," from an Hausa greeting of sympathy. The devastating loss of cattle of the Fulani is said to have driven many of the Fulani insane, where Fulani cattle owners were said to have left their families and wandered unclothed, looking for their dead cattle. The disease had a long-effective on the nomadic lifestyle and economy of the Fulani. It returned and killed cattle during the years 1913-14 and 1919-20. As late as 1944, the Fulani believed that their new cattle, which they had obtained by buying expensive unborn calves, were inferior to the cattle of the pre-rinderpest time.[15]
German East Africa
Germans were ignorant of the extent and complexity of many human and livestock diseases in Africa, including rinderpest. In Tanzania, rinderpest was associated with massive wildlife mortality, which often accompanied or preceded the death of cattle by rinderpest. This further caused the disease to go largely unnoticed, as rinderpest was not associated with wildlife mortality by the Germans. Despite the massive amount of cattle death among the Maasai, the epizootic was only shown concern by the Germans when the livestock around ports and military stations began to die.[16] The German response to rinderpest often included border controls, as well as preventative slaughtering of otherwise healthy cattle, increasing dissatisfaction and anger among the local population.
Bechuanaland
The virus damaged various areas of society for pastoralists in Southern Bechuanaland, modern day Botswana, as cattle was crucial to their survival. They relied on their livestock as their only source of income and cattle were a large percent of the economy. [17] Moreover, Southern Bechuanaland was a very dry country which meant there was a lack of water sources that farmers could use. Thus, farmers were forced to take their livestock to the select few water holes in their areas which meant they were mixing with the infected wild mammals. The British colonialists did not collaborate with the Tswanas and Boers in management of the disease, causing further spread of the disease across the region [18]
Southern Africa
Similarly in Cape Colony, particularly in the Eastern Cape, oxen were both crucial to the agrarian systems.[19] A declining population of the cattle caused by rinderpest caused massive famine and starvation. As a result of this, many communities turned to skinning and dried out the meat of the large number of carcasses to preserve them, however this was only a temporary solution to famine. [20]
In Southern
This damaged the food chain for predators. Lions, hyenas and other predators that hunt livestock and other species were struggling to find food as their prey was being killed by the virus. This forced hyenas and some lions to adapt to the changes in the ecosystem and turn to killing humans instead as they were easy to hunt having been debilitated by famine and smallpox.[20] These human attacks were most prevalent in Ethiopia between 1888 to 1892.[20]
Cow manure was a useful material that was used in various ways in African countries. It was used to plaster walls and floors but most importantly it was a used as a natural fertilizer on the land. This forced agricultural revolution in this period as they had to find an alternative to manure and farm in new ways to bring yield. [21]
However the African farming sector prior to rinderpest in 1897 in the Southeast of Africa was struggling due to mixture of droughts and infestation of red locusts (Nomadacris septumfascinata serville) in 1895 and 1896. Large swarms of locusts migrated from the northeast to the south coastal area of KwaZulu-Natal in August 1895. They caused massive amounts of damage to whole mealies and sugar cane fields.[22] This resulted in major loss for farmers who invested in their field but were left with no crops to sell as due to extreme damage.
Effect of Rinderpest on Borana in Southern Ethiopia
The rinderpest swept through the Borana region in Southern Ethiopia in 18-30 days, Central Ethiopia in 8 days and Eritrea in 3 days.[20]The severity of the rinderpest upon the communities depended on what animals the communities relied upon. As it left behind little to no cattle, communities such as the Maasai were hit hard while the Somali and Gabra were almost untouched as they relied on camels.[20] The Borana in Southern Ethiopia used a cattle-based economy, a pastoral economy, when the rinderpest arrived in August 1891.[20] Cattle played an important role in marriages, as a food source, and in the maintenance of social security networks. As a result, the Borana was left without an economy and food. The only ones who manged to keep their herds alive were those who were already in remote areas. The ones who were hit the hardest were those relying on the Tula wells for water, as these became centres where infection spread.[20] As the disease travelled, the wells and grazing land surrounding them were abandoned in fear of infection.
What limited food stores existed rapidly depleted, and what meat had been preserved ran out not long after the pest arrived. This meant that food taboos and societal hierarchy, such as the pastoral Borana being seen as better than the Waata who were hunter-gatherers, were set aside in favour of survival. Such compromises were also seen elsewhere in Eastern and Northern Africa.[20] Additional problems arose as the rinderpest also killed animals such as buffalo, Grant’s gazelle and giraffes, meaning that predators like lions and hyenas had fewer alternatives when hunting. This led to predation of humans who were already weak from famine and smallpox outbreaks.[20] In Northern Ethiopia, hyenas were particularly bad at attacking humans, going as far as dragging people out of their homes during the night.[20] The smallpox was spread as people moved around trying to find better off places. Efforts to isolate infected people and inoculation were tried to minimize the severity of the smallpox. Still, whole families died out. With all the combined factors, the social networks broke down, and the weaker members of society, such as elders and orphans were left to fend for themselves as everyone strove to survive. Today, the Borana uses term the ciinna, meaning ”termination of everything”, for the overall impact the pest had on the society.[20]
The rinderpest epidemic also caused a restructure of Borana society. The survivors of the epizootic organized themselves into larger settlements around the wells, both to keep the wells open and functional but also as a precaution against predators.[20] In addition, in response to the famine, customary rules and taboos around food had been abolished. Community chiefs enacted polices that declared all rules and taboos to be forgiven, and strict laws were implaced to prevent further "rule breaking."[20]
The few domesticated animals to survive in Borana areas were donkeys and horses. These were both important in helping the community start the rebuilding of itself. Horses, in combination with dogs, were used to aid in hunting of game, while donkeys were used as pack animals and helped restart trade and social networks. Unlike many other communities after the Rinderpest, the Borana clans rebuilt and returned to a pastoral economy.[20] To work towards this, redistribution of remaining cattle was implemented in harmony with the social hierarchy, meaning oldest son got first, but younger brothers got ownership over calves in turn.[20] In the aftermath of the Rinderpest with few cattle and the redistributive social system made this period into one of the more equal periods for the area.
Europeans travelling through the area, like H.S.H. Cavendish, makes remarks on the prosperity of the land only a handful of years after the Rinderpest swept through the area.
Effect of Rinderpest on environmental landscape
As a result of the rinderpest epizootic, cattle disappeared across Eastern Africa. As a result, many forms of wild organisms reclaimed these former cattle pastures, including tsetse fly. In addition, former cattle herders who, having lost their economic livelihoods, turned to hunting, which forced them to encroach into bush areas with increased populations of tsetse fly. Sleeping sickness, a parasitic disease transmitted by tsetse fly, was endemic to Africa and outbreaks of the disease had been documented for many centuries,[23] for example, the Malian king, Mari Djata II of Mali, is reported to have died of it in the 14 century.[24] As a result of bites from tsetse fly, thousands of Africans contracted sleeping sickness. Between the years of 1900-1904, 200,00 out of the 300,000 inhabitants of the infected regions in Eastern of Southern Africa died of sleeping sickness.[25]
Political effects of epizootic in Africa
Political violence. The policy of many of the colonialists in Africa in response to the spread of rinderpest was the preventative slaughter of healthy cattle, often to protect European livestock. This angered many native Africans. This anger was also promoted by the fact that cattle killed by Europeans were burned and buried, while dead cattle was often consumed in times of famine. Galeshiwe, the chief of the Tlhaping people, declared that "he would ever permit his cattle to be shot." Because of the conflict, over 50-70 Africna s Langeberg Rebellion (1896–97).
Eradication
References
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- ^ Van den Bossche, Peter; de La Rocque, Stéphane; Hendrickx, Guy; Bouyer, Jérémy (May 2010). "A changing environment and the epidemiology of tsetse-transmitted livestock trypanosomiasis". Trends in Parasitology. 26 (5): 236–243. doi:10.1016/j.pt.2010.02.010. PMID 20304707.
- ^ Normile, Dennis (March 2008). "Driven to Extinction". Science. 319 (5870): 1606–9. doi:10.1126/science.319.5870.1606. PMID 18356500. S2CID 46157093.
- ^ a b Morens, David M; Holmes, Edward C; Davis, A Sally; Taubenberger, Jeffery K (2011). "Global Rinderpest Eradication: Lessons Learned and Why Humans Should Celebrate Too". The Journal of Infectious Diseases. 204 (4): 502–505. doi:10.1093/infdis/jir327. PMC 3144172. PMID 21653230 – via Oxford Academic.
- ^ van Onselen, C (January 22, 2009). "Reactions to Rinderpest in Southern Africa 1896–97". Cambridge University Press. 13 (3): 473–488. doi:10.1017/S0021853700011762.
- ^ Sunseri, Thaddeus (Spring 2015). "The Entangled History of Sadoka (Rinderpest) and Veterinary Science in Tanzania and the Wider World, 1891-1901". Bull Hist Med. 89 (1): 92–121. doi:10.1353/bhm.2015.0005.
- ^ Rowe, John A.; Hødnebø, Kjell (1994). "RINDERPEST IN THE SUDAN 1888-1890: THE MYSTERY OF THE MISSING PANZOOTIC". Sudanic Africa. 5 (1994): 149–178.
- ^ Rowe, John A.; Hødnebø, Kjell (1994). "RINDERPEST IN THE SUDAN 1888-1890: THE MYSTERY OF THE MISSING PANZOOTIC". Sudanic Africa. 5 (1994): 149–178.
- ^ van Onselen, C (January 22, 2009). "Reactions to Rinderpest in Southern Africa 1896–97". Cambridge University Press. 13 (3): 473–488. doi:10.1017/S0021853700011762.
- ^ Marquardt, Gary (2017). "Building a Perfect Pest: Environment, People, Conflict and the Creation of a Rinderpest Epizootic in Southern Africa". Journal of Southern African Studies. 43 (2): 349–363. doi:10.1080/03057070.2017.1291162 – via Taylor and Francis Online.
- ^ Sunseri, Thaddeus. "International Collaboration and Rivalry in the Early Fight Against Rinderpest". Special Campus, and C. O. S. T. Action – via EuropeNow.
- ^ Sunseri, Thaddeus (2015). "The Entangled History of Sadoka (Rinderpest) and Veterinary Science in Tanzania and the Wider World, 1891–1901". Bulletin of the History of Medicine. 89 (1): 92–121. doi:10.1353/bhm.2015.0005. JSTOR 26308988 – via JSTOR.
- ^ Rowe, John A.; Hødnebø, Kjell (1994). "RINDERPEST IN THE SUDAN 1888-1890: THE MYSTERY OF THE MISSING PANZOOTIC". Sudanic Africa. 5 (1994): 149–178.
- ^ Rowe, John A.; Hødnebø, Kjell (1994). "RINDERPEST IN THE SUDAN 1888-1890: THE MYSTERY OF THE MISSING PANZOOTIC". Sudanic Africa. 5 (1994): 149–178.
- ^ Felton, M.R.; Ellis, P.R. (1978). Studies on the Control of Rinderpest in Nigeria (PDF). University of Reading Department of Agriculture and Horticulture. p. 11. Retrieved April 30, 2024.
- ^ Sunseri, Thaddeus (2015). "The Entangled History of Sadoka (Rinderpest) and Veterinary Science in Tanzania and the Wider World, 1891–1901". Bulletin of the History of Medicine. 89 (1): 92–121. doi:10.1353/bhm.2015.0005. JSTOR 26308988 – via JSTOR.
- ^ Marquardt, Gary (2017-02-26). "Building a Perfect Pest: Environment, People, Conflict and the Creation of a Rinderpest Epizootic in Southern Africa". Journal of Southern African Studies. 43 (2): 349–363. doi:10.1080/03057070.2017.1291162. ISSN 0305-7070.
- ^ Marquardt, Gary (2017-02-26). "Building a Perfect Pest: Environment, People, Conflict and the Creation of a Rinderpest Epizootic in Southern Africa". Journal of Southern African Studies. 43 (2): 349–363. doi:10.1080/03057070.2017.1291162. ISSN 0305-7070.
- ^ Gilfoyle, Daniel (2003). "Veterinary Research and the African Rinderpest Epizootic: The Cape Colony, 1896-1898". Journal of Southern African Studies. 29 (1): 133–54. doi:10.1080/0305707032000060494. JSTOR 3557413 – via JSTOR.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Tiki, Waktole; Oba, Gufu (2009). "Ciinna – the Borana Oromo narration of the 1890s Great Rinderpest epizootic in North Eastern Africa". Journal of Eastern African Studies. 3 (3): 479–508. doi:10.1080/17531050903273750 – via Taylor and Francis Online.
- ^ Phoofolo, Pule (1993). "Epidemics and Revolutions: The Rinderpest Epidemic in Late Nineteenth-Century Southern Africa". Past & Present. 138 (138): 112–43. doi:10.1093/past/138.1.112. JSTOR 651190 – via JSTOR.
- ^ Ballard, Charles (1986). "The Repercussions of Rinderpest: Cattle Plague and Peasant Decline in Colonial Natal". The International Journal of African Historical Studies. 19 (3): 421–50. doi:10.2307/218974. JSTOR 218974 – via JSTOR.
- ^ Headrick, Daniel (April 2014). "Sleeping Sickness Epidemics and Colonial Responses in East and Central Africa, 1900–1940". PLoS Negl Trop Dis. 8 (4). doi:10.1371/journal.pntd.0002772.
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- ^ Headrick, Daniel (April 2014). "Sleeping Sickness Epidemics and Colonial Responses in East and Central Africa, 1900–1940". PLoS Negl Trop Dis. 8 (4). doi:10.1371/journal.pntd.0002772.
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: CS1 maint: unflagged free DOI (link)
Further reading
- Sunseri, Thaddeus (2018-04-26). "The African Rinderpest Panzootic, 1888–1897". Oxford Research Encyclopedia of African History. Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/acrefore/9780190277734.013.375. ISBN 978-0-19-027773-4.