Serological Investigations of Peste des Petits Ruminants (PPR) in Sheep and Goats in Kordofan States, Western Sudan

Abstract

During February 2018 to January 2019, suspected outbreaks of PPR were reported in herds of sheep and goats in the Northern and Southern Kordofan States in Western Sudan. The main clinical signs observed in the affected animals are depression, pyrexia, emaciation, dullness, nasal and ocular discharges, diarrhoea, mouth lesions, anorexia, dry muzzle, dyspnea, rapid and labored breathing beside other respiratory signs. The present study was designed to investigate the current situation of peste des petits ruminants (PPR) in two Kordofan States of the Sudan. A total of 182 sera were collected from sheep (152 sera) and goats (30 sera) from suspected PPR outbreaks reported in four different regions of Northern and Southern Kordofan States. A total of 19 sheep and goats sera were collected during the year 2018 include: 10 sheep sera from Elobied, Shickan locality, Northern Kordofan and 9 goat sera from Para, Para locality in Northern Kordofan. During 2019 sera which were collected from two suspected PPR outbreaks occurred in Altartar in Eltadamon locality, Southern Kordofan include: 163 sera; 102 sera (81 sheep and 21 goats) from the first outbreak and 61 sheep sera from the second one. These sera were collected from non-vaccinated animals, above one year of age and from different local breeds. Competitive ELISA (C-ELISA) was used for serological detection of PPRV antibodies in animal’s sera. Of the total 182 sera tested, 181/182 (99.5%) with an overall sero-prevalence of 99.5%while only 1/182 (0.5%) sera were found negative.Within species, all testedsheep sera 152/152 (100%) were found positive. Within goats, 29/30 (96.7%) sera were found positive whereas only 1/30 (3.3%) sera was negative. As a conclusion, sheep sera yielded a higher overall sero-prevalence of 100% compared to goats sera which yielded a lower overall sero-prevalence of 96.7%. Within the two Kordofan States under study, the highest overall sero-prevalence of 100% (163/163 sera) was demonstrated in Southern Kordofan State while the lowest sero-prevalence of 94.7% (18/19 sera) was demonstrated in Northern Kordofan State. Within localities of Kordofan States, the highest overall sero-prevalence of PPRV antibodies (100%) was demonstrated in Altartar, Eltadamon locality, Southern Kordofan State (163/163 sera) and in Elobied, Shickan locality, Northern Kordofan State (10/10 sera). The lowest sero-prevalence of 88.9% (8/9 sera) was demonstrated in Para, Para locality, Northern Kordofan State. Serological detection demonstrated the presence of PPRV antibodies in sera of sheep and goats collected from suspected outbreaks in Northern and Southern Kordofan States in Western part of the country. As we know PPR is endemic in the Sudan. Currently, the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) launched a control program for completely eliminating PPR from endemic areas by 2030. For control of the disease in the Sudan, awareness of the animal owners should be increased byexplainingthe importance of using animal vaccination. Also the Sudanese Ministry of Animal Fisheries and Livestock should make efforts to use the effective PPRV vaccine for all animals in all areas of the country especially in routes of the seasonal animal’s movement and shared grazing areas to prevent occurrence of the disease outbreaks.