Contagious bovine pleuropneumonia (CBPP), also known as lung sickness, is a serious bacterial disease of cattle caused by a mycoplasma. Its origins are believed to have been in the Northern Hemisphere but by the end of the 19th Century it had largely been eradicated from at least Europe and North America. It was initially introduced into southern Africa from The Netherlands in 1854, but is believed to have been present in East and West Africa before they were colonised by Europeans.