Veterinarian helped control threat of cattle plague

Dr. Walter Plowright, the British veterinarian who developed an inexpensive vaccine that contributed to global efforts to wipe out a disease responsible for millions of cattle deaths, died Feb. 19. He was 86.

In 1999, Dr. Plowright became the first veterinarian named as a World Food Prize Laureate, an honor given because of the impact of his rinderpest vaccine. The prize is awarded to individuals for outstanding achievements that improve the quality, quantity, or availability of food.

Officials with the Food and Agri-culture Organization of the United Nations, or FAO, credit Dr. Plowright with greatly helping to eradicate rinderpest by developing the vaccine during his time in Kenya in the 1950s. The organization nominated him for the World Food Prize. More

Image source from here.