Prevalence of peste des petits ruminants virus antibodies in sheep and goats sera from Central-Western Sudan.

Clinical signs suggestive of peste des petits ruminants (PPR) involved herds of small ruminants, which were described elsewhere in Sudan. Peste des petits ruminants was confirmed using an Immunocapture ELISA (IC-ELISA) assay in samples of infected and dead animals in areas of outbreaks. Therefore, to update information regarding the current situation and for assessment of the serological prevalence of PPR in small ruminants mingled at Central and Western Sudan during 2018-2019, 368 sera were collected from sheep (325 sera) and goats (43 sera) with different ages and breeds. These sera included 186 sera (173 sheep and 13 goats) from White Nile State and 182 sera (152 sheep and 30 goats) from Kordofan States. Competitive ELISA demonstrated higher prevalence of PPRV antibodies of 88.9%, 90.7% and 88.6% in both sheep and goats, goats, and sheep sera, respectively. Moreover, 100%, 94.7% and 78.5% seroprevalence values were demonstrated in South Kordofan, North Kordofan and White Nile States. The higher seroprevalence values detected in sera of unvaccinated sheep and goats indicated the wide exposure of these animals to PPRV and presence of protection following PPR viral infection. The findings of the study indicated that PPR is endemic in the surveyed areas of Sudan.Contribution: The study will contribute effectively to the global eradication programme of PPR organised by the World Organization for Animal Health (WOAH, formerly OIE) and Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). To completely eliminate PPR from Sudan by 2030, local efforts should be directed towards effectively and wholly vaccinating small ruminants using PPRV vaccine especially in routes of seasonal animal's movement and shared grazing areas.

Sero-prevalence of peste des petits ruminants virus antibodies in sheep and goats from the Sudan, 2016-2017.

Recently, severe outbreaks of PPR among small ruminants were reported regularly in different parts of the country leading to significant economic losses. Between 2016 and 2017, a total of 320 sera were collected from sheep (258) and goats (62) from PPR suspected outbreaks from four different States in the Sudan. Screening of sera for the presence of PPRV antibodies by competitive ELISA revealed an overall antibodies sero-prevalence of 80.9% (259/320, 95% CI 20.5-28) among sheep and goats. On the species basis, sheep sera yielded the higher antibodies sero-prevalence of 84.5% (218/258, 95% CI 16.7-24.1) compared to a lower sero-prevalence of 66.1% (41/62, 95% CI 28.5-51.1) obtained from goats sera. Within Sudanese States where outbreaks occurred, the highest overall sero-prevalence of PPRV antibodies in sheep and goats was demonstrated in River Nile State 90.3% (159/176 sera, 95% CI 12.8-18.2) while the lowest incidence was present in Northern State 00.0% (0/2 sera, 95% CI 69.9-72.2). Of note, higher sero-prevalence values were achieved in this study than previously documented. Results of the present study indicated that PPR is currently circulating widely in the Sudan and still is a leading cause of disease outbreaks and higher fatalities in small ruminants. Therefore, the effective PPR vaccine is recommended to cover all parts of the Sudan to prevent the occurrence of disease outbreaks.