Abstract:
During October and November 2018, outbreaks suspected to be caused by PPR
involved sheep and goats in different areas in White Nile State, Sudan. The present
study was designed to serologically investigate the current situation of peste des petits
ruminants (PPR) in White Nile State, Sudan.
A total of 186 sera were collected from suspected PPR outbreaks reported in three
different localities of White Nile State in the Sudan. These sera were collected from
sheep (173 sera) and goats (13 sera) with different ages and breeds. Of these, collected
sera include: 102 sera (92 sheep and 10 goats) from Ed Dueim, Ead Aljam; 47 Sera (44
sheep and 3 goats) from Gezira Amjar; and 37 sheep sera were collected from Gezira
Aba. These animals have never been vaccinated against PPR before or at the time of
sampling.
All sera (n = 186) were examined for the presence of PPRV antibodies by competitive
ELISA (C-ELISA) using monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) directed against PPRV
nucleoprotein. Results revealed an overall sero-prevalence of PPRV antibodies of
78.5% (146/186) among sheep and goats. On the species basis, sheep sera yielded a
higher sero-prevalence of 78.6% (136/173) while goat sera yielded a slightly lower
overall sero-prevalence of 76.9% (10/13).
Within localities of the White Nile State, the highest overall sero-prevalence of PPRV
antibodies was demonstrated in Gezira Amjar (93.6%= 44/47 sera) followed by Ed
Dueim, Ead Aljam (76.5%= 78/102 sera) and finally the lowest incidence was present in
Gezira Aba (64.9%= 24/37 sera).
Considering species level in the three different localities in White Nile State of the
Sudan, the highest sero-prevalence of PPRV among sheep was demonstrated in Gezira
Amjar locality (93.2%= 41/44 sera) followed by Ed Dueim, Ead Aljam locality (77.2%=
71/92 sera) and finally the lowest sero-prevalence was in Gezira Aba locality (64.9%=
24/37 sera). Moreover, the highest sero-prevalence of PPRV antibodies among goats
was demonstrated in Gezira Amjar locality (100%= 3/3 sera) while the least seroprevalence
was in Ed Dueim, Ead Aljam locality (70%= 7/10 sera).
The findings indicated the presence of PPR among sheep and goats populations in three
different localities of the White Nile State, Sudan. The higher sero-prevalence values
achieved indicated the wide exposure of these animals to PPRV.
