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Peste des petits ruminants (PPR) is an acute viral disease of small ruminants. The
disease was first reported in Tanzania in 2008 when it was confined to the Northern
Zone districts bordering Kenya. The present study was carried out to confirm
the presence of PPR virus (PPRV) in Tanzania and to establish their phylogenetic
relationships. Samples (oculonasal swabs, tissues and whole blood) were obtained
from live goats with clinical presentation suggestive of PPR and goats that died
naturally in Ngorongoro (Northern Tanzania) and Mvomero (Eastern Tanzania)
districts. The clinical signs observed in goats suspected with PPR included fever,
dullness, diarrhea, lacrimation, matting of eye lids, purulent oculonasal discharges,
cutaneous nodules, erosions on the soft palate and gums and labored
breathing. Post mortem findings included pneumonia, congestion of the intestines,
and hemorrhages in lymph nodes associated with the respiratory and gastrointestinal
systems. PPRV was detected in 21 out of 71 tested animals using
primers targeting the nucleoprotein (N) gene. Phylogenetic analysis, based on the
N gene, indicated that PPRV obtained from Northern and Eastern Tanzania clustered
with PPRV strains of Lineage III, together with PPRV from Sudan and Ethiopia.
The findings of this study indicate that there are active PPRV infections in
Northern and Eastern Tanzania, suggesting risks for potential spread of PPR in
the rest of Tanzania. |
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