Serological Investigations of Peste des Petits Ruminants (PPR) in Sheep and Goats in White Nile State, Sudan

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.