Research for Peste des Petits Ruminants (PPR) Virus Antibodies in Goats, Sheep and Gazelle from Bauchi and Gombe States, North Eastern Nigeria

Abstract

The study aimed to determine the prevalence of Peste des petits ruminants (PPR) in small ruminants of domestic and wild origin from Bauchi and Gombe States, Northeastern Nigeria, PPR virus antibodies were tested in unvaccinated goats, sheep and gazelles using competitive Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assay (c-ELISA), and risk factors related to PPR were analyzed. A total of 4223 (3218 goats, 988 sheep and 17 gazelles) serum samples were tested. cELISA resulted positive for 61.1% (2579/4223) animals (60.4% from Bauchi and 61.7% from Gombe). The frequency of the disease was found to be more in gazelles (76.5%) and goats (73.8%) whereas sheep (19.4%) are less infected. Sex and age were found to be associated with PPR seroprevalence (p‰¤0.05) in this study. PPR seroprevalence was higher in females 70.4% as compared to male 51.4% which is statistically significant (p-value < 0.0001) at 95% CI and 1.368 odd ratio. Moreover, the disease was found to be more frequent among young ruminants 68.2% than in adult ruminants 51.6% and was statistically significant (p-value < 0.0001) at 95% CI and 0.7568 Odds ratio. It was concluded that when wild ruminant are reared along with domesticated ones, they can serve as a potential threat in the transmission of the disease in susceptible animals. Therefore free routine PPR vaccination campaign in small ruminants should be carried out in Bauchi and Gombe states with more emphases targeting the female and young ones to block the epidemic cycle of the virus.

Key words: Frequency, cELISA, small ruminants, Peste des petits ruminants, Northeastern Nigeria   Manuscript Reviewed by Dr. Rodrigo Costa da Silva Mississippi State University College of Veterinary Medicine Department of Pathobiology and Population Medicine 240 Wise Center Drive Mississippi State, MS, USA - 39762 Dr Joseph Atawalna School of Veterinary Medicine, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Kumasi, Ghana Dr. Indu V. Raj Department of Veterinary Anatomy,College of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Mannuthy, Thrissur-680 651, Kerala, India