ABSTRACT
Lumpy skin disease is of significant economic impact for the cattle industry in Africa. The disease is currently spreading aggressively in the Near East, posing a threat of incursion to Europe and Asia. Due to cross-protection within the Capripoxvirus genus, sheep pox virus (SPPV) vaccines have been widely used for cattle against lumpy skin disease virus (LSDV). In the Middle East and the Horn of Africa these vaccines have been associated with incomplete protection and adverse reactions in cattle post-vaccination. The present study confirms that the real identity of the commonly used Kenyan sheep and goat pox vaccine virus (KSGP) O-240 is not SPPV but is actually LSDV. The low level attenuation of this virus is likely to be not sufficient for safe use in cattle, causing clinical disease in vaccinated animals. In addition, Isiolo and Kedong goat pox strains, capable of infecting sheep, goats and cattle are identified for potential use as broad-spectrum vaccine candidates against all capripox diseases.
Subject(s)
Capripoxvirus/isolation & purification , Lumpy Skin Disease/virology , Lumpy skin disease virus/isolation & purification , Viral Vaccines/isolation & purification , Animals , Capripoxvirus/classification , Capripoxvirus/genetics , Capripoxvirus/immunology , Cattle , Goat Diseases/virology , Goats , Lumpy Skin Disease/prevention & control , Lumpy skin disease virus/classification , Lumpy skin disease virus/genetics , Lumpy skin disease virus/immunology , Molecular Sequence Data , Phylogeny , Sheep , Sheep Diseases/virology , Vaccination , Vaccines, Attenuated/classification , Vaccines, Attenuated/genetics , Vaccines, Attenuated/immunology , Vaccines, Attenuated/isolation & purification , Viral Vaccines/genetics , Viral Vaccines/immunologyABSTRACT
Peste des petits ruminants virus (PPRV) causes a devastating disease of small ruminants present across much of Africa and Asia. Recent surveillance activities and phylogenetic analyses have suggested that the virus is an emerging problem as it is now being detected in areas previously free of the disease. As such, the virus not only is threatening small ruminant production and agricultural stability in the developing world, but also poses an economic threat to livestock in the European Union (EU) through introduction from European Turkey and North Africa. This report describes the development of a high throughput, rapid, real time RT-PCR method for the sensitive and specific detection of PPRV using robotic RNA extraction. This assay targets the nucleocapsid (N) gene of PPRV and has been shown to detect all four genetic lineages of PPRV in tissues, ocular and nasal swabs and blood samples collected in the field. The lowest detection limit achieved was approximately 10 genome copies/reaction, making this assay an ideal tool for the sensitive and rapid detection of PPRV in diagnostic laboratories.
