Peste des Petits Ruminants Virus Surveillance in Domestic Small Ruminants, Mozambique (2015 and 2017)

Peste des Petits Ruminants (PPR), a transboundary animal disease affecting mainly goats and sheep is caused by a morbillivirus and threatens food security and livelihoods as morbidity and mortality rates can reach 90%. There are no records of PPR in Mozambique, but the disease situation in Tanzania and the ability of PPR virus to rapidly spread across countries constitute a high risk for about 4.7 million goats and sheep in Mozambique. A total of 4,995 goats and sheep were sampled in several provinces during 2015 and 2017 to assess the status of PPR virus (PPRV) in Mozambique and to contribute to surveillance along the border with Tanzania. The sera were screened for anti-PPRV antibodies using a commercial PPR competition ELISA (c-ELISA) and the haemagglutinin based PPR blocking ELISA (HPPR-bELISA). The swabs were tested using one-step RT-PCR for detection of PPRV RNA. The overall percentage of animals with anti-PPRV antibodies by c-ELISA, was 0.46% [0.30–0.70]. However, all the sera positive on c-ELISA were confirmed to be negative by the HPPR-bELISA. Considering that all the swabs were negative for detection of PPRV, no clinical cases were observed during passive surveillance and active sampling, and no symptoms were reported, these results suggest that PPRV is not present in Mozambique.

Severe canine distemper outbreak in unvaccinated dogs in Mozambique

Although significant animal suffering caused by preventable diseases is frequently seen in developing countries, reports of this are scarce. This report describes avoidable animal suffering owing to a suspected canine distemper (CD) outbreak in unvaccinated dogs owned by low-income families in Mozambique that killed approximately 200 animals. Affected dogs exhibited clinical signs, and gross and microscopic lesions compatible with CD. Immunohistochemical staining confirmed the presence of canine distemper virus (CDV) in the kidney of one dog from the cohort. This brief communication again illustrates that large outbreaks of CDV in unvaccinated dogs occur and that large-scale avoidable suffering and threats to the health of dogs and wild canines continue. Mass vaccination supported by government and non-government organisations is recommended.