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Small ruminants (e.g., sheep and goats) contribute considerably to the cash income and nutrition of small farmers in most countries in Africa and Asia. Their husbandry is threatened by the highly infectious transboundary viral disease peste des petits ruminants (PPR) caused by peste-des-petits-ruminants virus (PPRV). Given its social and economic impact, PPR is presently being targeted by international organizations for global eradication by 2030. Since its first description in Côte d’Ivoire in 1942, and particularly over the last 10 years, a large amount of molecular epidemiological data on the virus have been generated in Africa. This review aims to consolidate these data in order to have a clearer picture of the current PPR situation in Africa, which will, in turn, assist authorities in global eradication attempts.

Peste des petits ruminants (PPR) disease was first confirmed in Tanzania in 2008 in sheep and goats in Ngorongoro District, northern Tanzania, and is now endemic in this area. This study aimed to characterise PPR disease in pastoralist small ruminant flocks in Ngorongoro District. During June 2015, 33 PPR-like disease reports were investigated in different parts of the district, using semi-structured interviews, clinical examinations, PPR virus rapid detection test (PPRV-RDT), and laboratory analysis. Ten flocks were confirmed as PPRV infected by PPRV-RDT and/or real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR), and two flocks were co-infected with bluetongue virus (BTV), confirmed by RT-qPCR. Phylogenetic analysis of six partial N gene sequences showed that the PPR viruses clustered with recent lineage III Tanzanian viruses, and grouped with Ugandan, Kenyan and Democratic Republic of Congo isolates. No PPR-like disease was reported in wildlife. There was considerable variation in clinical syndromes between flocks: some showed a full range of PPR signs, while others were predominantly respiratory, diarrhoea, or oro-nasal syndromes, which were associated with different local disease names (olodua—a term for rinderpest, olkipiei—lung disease, oloirobi—fever, enkorotik—diarrhoea). BTV co-infection was associated with severe oro-nasal lesions. This clinical variability makes the field diagnosis of PPR challenging, highlighting the importance of access to pen-side antigen tests and multiplex assays to support improved surveillance and targeting of control activities for PPR eradication.

Peste des petits ruminants (PPR) is an extremely contagious viral disease that significantly affects the health of small ruminants and the economies of livestock, particularly in areas adjacent to endemic regions. This study focused on assessing the vulnerability of different domestic and wild animal species in Kazakhstan, which includes local sheep and goats, African Cameroon goats, saigas, calves, and ground squirrels, to infection by the PPR virus (PPRV). Experimental infections used a virulent strain of PPRV (Nigeria 76/1), with animals being monitored over a period of 21–28 days to evaluate clinical signs, pathological lesions, and viral dissemination. The manifestation of disease differed across species, breed, and age. In Cameroon, goats and saigas displayed severe illness with a mortality rate of 100% and elevated virus levels in key organs, whereas local sheep and goats presented age-related subacute, abortive, and latent manifestations. Calves exhibited mild, subclinical infections, while ground squirrels showed no susceptibility. Viral shedding was observed in the secretions of infected animals, with transmission occurring through airborne and alimentary pathways. No virus carriage was detected in the animals that had recovered. The investigation emphasizes the notable variations in PPRV pathogenesis and transmission risk among different species, highlighting the necessity for focused surveillance and control strategies to avert incursions in PPR-free areas like Kazakhstan.

Here, we report the discovery of two viruses associated with a disease characterized by severe diarrhea on a large-scale goat farm in Jilin province. Electron Microscopy observations revealed two kinds of virus particles with the sizes of 150–210 nm and 20–30 nm, respectively. Detection of 276 fecal specimens from the diseased herds showed the extensive infection of peste des petits ruminants virus (63.77%, 176/276) and caprine enterovirus (76.81%, 212/276), with a co-infection rate of 57.97% (160/276). These results were partially validated with RT-PCR, where all five PPRV-positive and CEV-positive specimens yielded the expected size of fragments, respectively, while no fragments were amplified from PPRV-negative and CEV-negative specimens. Moreover, corresponding PPRV and CEV fragments were amplified in PPRV and CEV double-positive specimens. Histopathological examinations revealed severe microscopic lesions such as degeneration, necrosis, and detachment of epithelial cells in the bronchioles and intestine. An immunohistochemistry assay detected PPRV antigens in bronchioles, cartilage tissue, intestine, and lymph nodes. Simultaneously, caprine enterovirus antigens were detected in lung, kidney, and intestinal tissues from the goats infected by the peste des petits ruminants virus. These results demonstrated the co-infection of peste des petits ruminants virus with caprine enterovirus in goats, revealing the tissue tropism for these two viruses, thus laying a basis for the future diagnosis, prevention, and epidemiological survey for these two virus infections.

Small ruminants are important components in the livelihood of millions of households in many parts of the world. The spread of the highly contagious peste des petits ruminants (PPR) disease, which is caused by an RNA virus, PPRV, across Asia and Africa remains a major concern. The present study explored the evolutionary and epidemiological dynamics of PPRV through the analyses of partial N-gene and F-gene sequences of the virus. All the four previously described PPRV lineages (I-IV) diverged from their common ancestor during the late-19 th to early-20 th century. Among the four lineages, PPRV-IV showed pronounced genetic structuring across the region; however, haplotype sharing among the geographic regions, together with the presence of multiple genetic clusters within a country, indicates the possibility of frequent mobility of the diseased individuals across the region. The gradual decline in the effective number of infections suggests a limited genetic variation, which could be attributed to the effective vaccination that has been practiced since 1990s. However, the movement of infected animals across the region likely contributes to the spread of PPRV-IV. No evidence of positive selection was identified from this study.

Understanding the evolution of viral pathogens is critical to being able to define how viruses emerge within different landscapes. Host susceptibility, which is spread between different species and is a contributing factor to the subsequent epidemiology of a disease, is defined by virus detection and subsequent characterization. Peste des petits ruminants virus is a plague of small ruminant species that is a considerable burden to the development of sustainable agriculture across Africa and much of Asia. The virus has also had a significant impact on populations of endangered species in recent years, highlighting its significance as a pathogen of high concern across different regions of the globe. Here, we have re-evaluated the molecular evolution of this virus using novel genetic data to try and further resolve the molecular epidemiology of this disease. Viral isolates are genetically characterized into four lineages (I−IV), and the historic origin of these lineages is of considerable interest to the molecular evolution of the virus. Our re-evaluation of viral emergence using novel genome sequences has demonstrated that lineages I, II and IV likely originated in West Africa, in Senegal (I) and Nigeria (II and IV). Lineage III sequences predicted emergence in either East Africa (Ethiopia) or in the Arabian Peninsula (Oman and/or the United Arab Emirates), with a paucity of data precluding a more refined interpretation. Continual refinements of evolutionary emergence, following the generation of new data, is key to both understanding viral evolution from a historic perspective and informing on the ongoing genetic emergence of this virus.

The present study aimed to investigate the episodes of per-acute mortality due to peste des petits ruminants (PPR) that resulted in the death of 30 animals of different species of cervids, namely, barking deer, four-horned antelope, hog deer, thamin, and mouse deer in the State Zoo of Assam, a northeastern state of India. The affected animals showed no to limited clinical signs. However, the necropsy and histopathological findings were highly suggestive of PPR virus (PPRV) infection observed in domestic small ruminants. Representative tissue samples were screened for the presence of PPRV along with blue tongue virus (BTV) and epizootic hemorrhagic disease virus (EHDV) using RT-PCR or RT-qPCR and were found to be positive for PPRV. Considering the sudden outbreak of PPR in captive cervids, we sought to determine the role of domestic goats as the potential spillover host. To verify that, archived tissue samples of domestic goats collected during PPRV outbreaks in nearby localities and slaughtered goats used as meat for Carnivorous animals in the State Zoo were also screened and found to be positive for PPRV in RT-PCR. Phylogenetic analysis based on the Nucleocapsid (N) protein gene of PPRV from infected cervids, domestic goats, and goat meat revealed the virus to be of Lineage IV origin. Our findings provide evidence of probable spillover of PPRV from domestic goats to captive endangered cervids and circulation of Lineage IV PPRV strains among the small-ruminant population of this region.

Peste des Petits Ruminants (PPR) is a highly contagious viral disease of both domestic (goats and sheep) and wild ruminants. Caused by a morbillivirus, that belongs to the family Paramyxoviridae. The disease is clinically and pathologically similar to rinderpest of cattle and human measles. PPR is one of the most economically devastating viral diseases of small ruminants. In April 2015, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) launched the PPR Global Control and Eradication Strategy (PPR GCES) with the vision for global eradication by 2030. There is a strong and lasting international consensus to eradicate the disease in order to protect the livelihoods of the world’s poorest populations. As with any disease, eradication is feasible when, policy, scientific and technical challenges are addressed. Ten majors challenges are described in this paper namely: understanding small ruminant production, facilitating research to support eradication, refining laboratory testing, improving epidemiological understanding of the virus, defining infection of wildlife and other species, optimizing vaccine delivery and novel vaccines, developing better control of animal movement, heightening serological monitoring, understanding socio-economic impact, and garnering funding and political will.

Peste des petits ruminants virus (PPRV) has been classified into four lineages based on the nucleocapsid and fusion genes, with lineage IV strains being the most widely distributed. In Africa, recent epidemiological data revealed that PPRV lineage IV is increasingly displacing other lineages in prevalence, suggesting a competitive advantage in viral transmission and adaptability. Moreover, a lineage IV strain was the only confirmed strain in Europe and Asia. In this study, a one-step Taqman quantitative real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) assay for lineage IV PPRV was established by targeting the hemagglutinin (H) gene. The results indicated that this method could detect approximately six copies of PPRV RNA, indicating high sensitivity. No cross-reactions with related viruses or other lineages of PPRV were observed. The results of a repeatability test indicated that the coefficient of variation values were low in both the inter-assay and intra-assay experimental groups. Detection of field samples indicated that all positive samples could be detected successfully using the developed method. This RT-qPCR assay provides a valuable tool to facilitate targeted surveillance and rapid differential diagnosis in regions with active circulation of PPRV lineage IV, enabling timely epidemiological investigations and strain-specific identification.

Background Peste des Petits Ruminants (PPR) is an acute or peracute contagious transboundary viral disease that mainly affects caprine and ovine and causes significant economic impact in developing countries. After two PPR virus outbreaks in 2011 and 2014, an investigation, from August 2015 to September 2016, was carried out in Northern Iraq when an increased morbidity and mortality rates were reported in the domestic and captive wild goats. In the present study, ten domestic goat farms and seven captive wild goat herds located in seven geographical areas of Northern Iraq were clinically, pathologically, serologically and genotypically characterized to determine the prevalence and potential cause of PPR virus outbreak. Results The outbreak occurred with rate of morbidity (26.1%) and mortality (11.1%) in domestic goat farms as compared to captive wild goat herds where relatively high mortality (42.9%) and low morbidity (10.9%) rates were recorded. Based on the clinical symptoms (mucopurulent nasal discharges, ulceration and erosion of oral mucosa, profuse watery diarrhea) and necropsy (hemorrhage and congestion on mucous membranes of the colon and rectum with zebra stripes lesions) results, overall, the serological test findings revealed a high frequency (47.9%) of positive samples for anti-PPRV nucleoprotein antibodies. Furthermore, the nucleoprotein (N) gene was detected in 63.2 and 89.1% of samples using conventional and reverse transcription real-time quantitative PCR assays. A phylogenetic analysis of N gene amino acid sequences clustered with the reference strain revealed lineage IV similar to the strains isolated in 2011 and 2014, respectively. However, two sub-types of lineage IV (I and II), significantly distinct from the previous strains, were also observed. Conclusion The phylogenetic analysis suggests that movements of goats are possible cause and one of the important factors responsible for the spread of virus across the region. The study results would help in improving farm management practices by establishing a PPR virus eradication program using regular monitoring and vaccination program to control and mitigate the risk of re-emergence of PPR virus infection in domestic and captive wild goats in Iraq. Highlights 1. Assessment and detection of source of re-emergence of Peste des Petits Ruminants virus in goats. 2. High rate of mortality than morbidity in domestic and captive wild goat herds. 3. Identification of novel sub-types (I&II) of lineage IV. 4. Regular monitoring and strategies for improving on-site control and trade regulations enables mitigating risk of outbreaks.