Contagious bovine pleuropneumonia (CBPP) is one of the most important infectious diseases of cattle in Africa. Naïve herds can experience losses up to 80%, and many cattle that survive remain chronic carriers. These carriers may suffer from recurrent low-grade fever, loss of condition, and respiratory signs upon exercise, and might introduce the virus into uninfected herds. Although contagious bovine pleuropneumonia was once found worldwide, it was eradicated from most continents, including North America, by the mid-20th century. Its incidence also began to decline in Africa by the 1970s. During the late 1980s and 1990s, however, this disease increased in prevalence in endemic areas. It also re-emerged in some African and European countries that had been CBPP-free, in some cases for 25 years or more. Eradication was successful in Europe, with the most recent case reported in 1999. However, contagious bovine pleuropneumonia remains a serious concern in Africa, where the end of widespread combined rinderpest/CBPP vaccination programs (after rinderpest eradication) may have contributed to its resurgence.