Sero-prevalence of Peste des Petits Ruminant (PPR) Virus in Sheep and Goat Population of Gilgit Baltistan Province of Pakistan

Abstract

| Peste des petits ruminants (PPR) caused by PPR virus (PPRV), is a contagious disease of domestic and wild small ruminants. The disease is endemic in developing countries of African and Asian worlds including Pakistan, where several clinical cases in small ruminants (sheep and goat) have been frequently reported. Despite PPRV is endemic in Pakistan, information on disease serosurveillance of prevailing strains in Gilgit-Balitistan (GB) territory is scarce. Therefore, the current study was designed to assess the seroprevalence of PPRV and to evaluate potential risk factors involved in the transmission of PPR disease in four distinct locations of GB province. We reported occurrence and risk factor analysis of PPR in small ruminants (n=1000) originating from different places in district Gilgit using Hem agglutination Inhibition (HI) test followed by risk analysis through Open-Epi software. Serum samples including goats n=500 and sheep n=500 were collected from different herds situated at Naltar lake, Tattovat, Fairy meadows, Bangle, and Naltar. Overall a comparable prevalence was identified for both goat and sheep (46% vs 44%, P > 0.05). Future studies are necessary to further ascertain the study outcomes and elucidate the molecular epidemiology of prevalent strains in the said geographical locations for better disease control and management interventions. Novelty Statement | It is the first report from Gilgit-Balitistan which ascertain necessary intervention such as vaccination on mass scale, animal movement control etc for disease management in future. Article History Received: January 15, 2019 Revised: July 29, 2019 Accepted: June 02, 2020 Published: June 26, 2020 Authors’ Contributions MR conducted the research. TA supervised this study. NM, MFS MI and SY helped in sample collection and reviewing the article.