Seroprevalence of Antibodies to Peste Des Petits Ruminants at Various Governmental Livestock Farms of Punjab, Pakistan

Seroprevalence and associated risk factors of peste des petits ruminants among ovine and caprine in selected districts of Afar region, Ethiopia

BACKGROUND

A Peste des petits ruminant is an acute, highly contagious and economically important transboundary viral disease of small ruminants. Despite the fact that food and agriculture organization and world organization for animal health plan to eradicate the disease by 2030, some studies indicated an increasing seropositivity of PPR infection in sheep and goats in Ethiopia. A cross-sectional study was employed to estimate the seroprevalence of PPR and to assess risk factors during the study period, February to April, 2020. Following purposive selection of the study districts, simple random sampling technique was employed to select individual animal during sample collection. A total of 384 serum samples were collected from apparently healthy sheep and goats. Competitive Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assay was used to detect the presence of antibodies against PPR at national veterinary institute. Descriptive statistics, Pearson's chi-square (X²) and logistic regression analysis were used is this study.

RESULTS

The overall animal level seroprevalence of PPR virus was found to be 60.15% (n = 231/384) and species level prevalence rate was found to be 38.18% (n = 42) in sheep and 68.98% (n = 189) in goats in the study areas. Among the associated risk factors considered; species, sex, age and herd sizes were significantly associated (P < 0.05) with the disease occurrence. Among the associated risk factors considered in this study, species, sex, age and herd size were found to be statistically associated with the seropositivity of PPR infection.

CONCLUSION

The present study finding revealed that a higher seroprevalence of PPR virus infection and this confirms peste des petits ruminant virus is circulating in Afar region. Further studies should be carried out on the entire region to determine PPR seroprevalence and to develop appropriate control and eradication strategies of PPR disease.

Investigating peste des petits ruminants (PPR) in naturally infected goats and sheep in Anseba Region, Eritrea, by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR)

The impact of peste des petits ruminants (PPR) virus was investigated by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) on different samples obtained from non-vaccinated diseased and necropsied sheep and goats showing PPR-like symptoms. The disease picture was typical and sheep were observed to be less susceptible. Nasal and rectal swabs, whole blood and pathological tissue samples from the lungs, intestine, and mesenteric lymph nodes were used for this study. The results of RT-PCR indicated that from a total of 32 samples collected, 12 (41%) were positive by this method. Out of those collected samples, 29 were from goats and 3 were from sheep. Nasal and rectal swabs and blood samples were superior in detection of the PPR virus compared to other tissue samples.

Detection and phylogenetic analysis of peste des petits ruminants virus isolated from outbreaks in Punjab, Pakistan

Peste des Petits Ruminants (PPR) is an important viral disease of small ruminants and is endemic in Pakistan. In the following study, samples from two outbreaks of PPR in goats have been subjected to laboratory investigations. The Peste des Petits Ruminants virus (PPRV) genome was detected using both conventional and real-time PCR. Genetic characterization of the local PPRV field isolates was conducted by sequencing 322 bp of the fusion (F) gene and 255 bp of the nucleoprotein (N) gene. The phylogenetic tree based on the F gene clustered samples from both outbreaks into lineage 4 along with other Asian isolates, specifically into subcluster 1 along with isolates from Middle East. Analysis of N gene revealed a different pattern. In this case, the Pakistani samples clustered with Chinese, Tajikistani and Iranian isolates, which probably represents the true geographical pattern of virus circulation. This is the first report presenting the phylogenetic tree based on N gene as well as performing a parallel comparison of the trees of F and N gene together from Pakistani isolates. The results of this study shed light on the PPRV population in Pakistan and emphasize the importance of using molecular methods to understand the epidemiology. Such understanding is essential in any efforts to control the number and impact of outbreaks that are occurring in endemic countries such as Pakistan, especially in the current scenario where OIE and FAO are eager to control and subsequently eradicate PPR from the globe, as has been achieved for Rinderpest.