Serological Studies on Peste Des Petits Ruminants (Ppr) in Sheep, Goats and Camels in Sokoto State, Nigeria
Serological Studies on Peste Des Petits Ruminants (Ppr) in Sheep, Goats and Camels in Sokoto State, Nigeria.
Abstract
Peste des petits ruminant (PPR) is a highly contagious viral disease of small ruminants that is regarded as one of the most important militating factors against small ruminant production in Nigeria.
Despite its endemicity in Sokoto State, scanty or no report of PPR exist in the State. Therefore, this study was aimed at determining the current serological status of the disease in sheep, goats and camels in Sokoto State, Nigeria.
A total of 433 serum samples obtained from small ruminants (sheep and goats) in six randomly selected Local Government Areas (Tambuwal, Goronyo, Wurno, Kware, Bodinga and Sokoto South LGAs) in the State were examined for the presence of PPR antibodies using a monoclonal antibody-based competitive enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (c-ELISA).
The sera were collected only from those small ruminants of not less than six months old and with no history of vaccination against PPR.
The overall seroprevalence of PPR in small ruminants was 45.50% (197/433) while that of camel was 18.25% (25/137).
Chi square test of independence at 95% confidence interval revealed a statistically significant difference in the seroprevalence rates among the LGAs sampled: Goronyo (56.72%), Tambuwal (59.10%), Bodinga (33.71%), Kware (53.24%), Wurno (18.60%) and Sokoto South (68.75%).
Introduction
1.1 Background of Study
Peste des petits ruminants (PPR) is a highly contagious viral disease of small ruminants such as sheep and goats (Dhar et al., 2002),
characterized by pyrexia (40-410C), purulent ocular/nasal discharge with congested conjunctiva, respiratory distress, sneezing, ulceration of mucous membranes of the mouth, diarrhea and gastroenteritis (Ozkul et al., 2002).
The disease is caused by an enveloped pleomorphic RNA virus which is a member of the Genus Morbillivirus belonging to the Family Paramyxoviridae.
The virus is antigenically related to rinderpest, canine distemper, dolphin distemper, phorcine distemper, porpoise distemper and measles viruses (Barrett, 1999).
Genetic characterization of the virus has grouped it into four distinct lineages: three from Africa and one from Asia. One of the African lineages is also found in Asia (Kerur et al, 2008).
Cattle, buffalos and pigs can become infected, but there is little or no evidence of the disease associated with their infection (Chauhan et al., 2009).
However, Khalafalla et al. (2010) reported an outbreak of the disease in camels. The disease could also be a natural infection of gazelles.
Peste des petits ruminants virus is easily transmitted by direct contact between the secretions and/or excretions of infected animals and nearby healthy animals (Ezeibe et al., 2008).
A substantial quantity of the virus is found in the ocular, nasal or oral secretions of infected goats and in the fecal material late in the disease (Abegunde and Adu, 1977).
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