Prevalence and distribution of Peste des petits ruminants virus antibodies in various districts of Tanzania

Abstract

Despite the widespread prevalence of infection with Peste des petits ruminants virus (PPRV) in goats and sheep industry in Asia and sub-Saharan Africa, there have been few, if any, structured population-based studies examining the epidemiology of this infection in Tanzania. In this study, we investigated the seroprevalence, and risk factors, of Peste des petitis ruminants(PPR) in sheep and goat flocks from seven different geographical administration authorities (Ngorongoro, Monduli, Longido, Karatu, Mbulu, Siha and Simanjiro) located in Northern Tanzania. Serum samples from 657 and 892 sheep and goats, respectively, corresponding to 91 sheep/goat flocks and 43 villages were collected. Competitive enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (c-ELISA) was used to detect the presence of antibodies in the serum against PPRV. Chi-square analysis and multivariable logistic regression model were used to identify risk factors for PPRV seropositivity. Findings suggested that the sero-positive cases were significantly higher in goats than in sheep (49.5% versus 39.8%; P=0.002). The overall seroprevalence of PPRV infection in small ruminants was 45.8%. Highest seroprevalence (42.6-88.02%) was observed in Mbulu, Siha, Longido, Ngorongoro districts, while antibodies less than 40% to none were found in serum from Monduli, Karatu and Simanjiro, respectively. These findings confirm natural transmission of PPRV under field condition for the first time in Tanzania. Results may be correlated with variations in the sheep and goat husbandry practices within different geographic localities, the uncontrolled movement of animals, the levels of natural immunity and the sharing of grazing field amongst agro and pastoralists.

Seroprevalence of Peste Des Petits Ruminants Virus from Samples Collected in Different Regions of Tanzania in 2013 and 2015

“…PPR was officially confirmed in Tanzania in 2008 and it was confined to the northern zone in districts bordering Kenya [10,11]. This follows the official confirmation of PPR in neighboring Kenya in 2007 [7].…”

Global distribution of peste des petits ruminants virus and prospects for improved diagnosis and control

“…Clearly both lineages III and IV are circulating in the Sudan and further serological reports from the country have confirmed outbreaks of PPRV in Sudan (Osman et al, 2009;Saeed et al, 2010). Swai et al (2009) recently confirmed natural transmission of PPRV and circulation of virus within herds in Tanzania. In this study, serological detection methods were used to evaluate seroconversion among sheep and goat herds from seven different geographical regions in northern Tanzania.…”

Seroprevalence and risk factors for peste des petits ruminants and selected differential diagnosis in sheep and goats in Tanzania

“…In addition, we did not visit the same areas both years; the differences in seroprevalence could therefore have been due to geographical differences. Previous studies in northern Tanzania found an overall seroprevalence of 45.5% in 2008 [46] and 22.1% in 2008–2009 [21]. In southern Tanzania, in the Mtwara region bordering Mozambique, 31% of sampled small ruminants had antibodies to PPRV [47].…”