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Within the epidemiological surveillance of rinderpest in Mali a serological survey has been carried out on 58 herds of small ruminants. Out of 567 tested sera for the detection of antibodies against rinderpest 2 were positive. These sera were collected from two animals over 6 years old, probably infected during the last outbreak of rinderpest in Mali in 1986. Therefore, it can be assumed that the rinderpest virus has not circulated in Mali since that year. However, the infection rate among goats and sheep due to the PPR virus seemed to be high: 74% of herds had already been infected. The prevalence of individual infection is 32%. A similar serological survey was conducted on 450 cattleheads, without antibodies against the rinderpest virus and showed that 1.78% of these animals had been in contact with the PPR virus. With such a low infection rate in cattle, the PPR virus probably has no incidence in the epidemiology of rinderpest in Mali.

The policy of rinderpest control in Chad has passed through various phases over sufficiently long periods to validate certain concepts such as that of the usefulness of perifocal vaccination of populations which have not been previously vaccinated. After studying the reliability of data regarding livestock, vaccinations and pathology and after having reviewed the various types of vaccine used, it can be concluded that perifocal vaccination, even in conjunction with the systematic vaccination of young, has not enabled rinderpest to be brought under control in Chad. Only systematic livestock vaccination can control and eradicate the disease. A table illustrates the vaccination operations and monitoring systems used.