Epidemiological Analysis of Peste des Petits Ruminants (PPR) Outbreaks in Pakistan

Aamer Bin Zahur¹, Aman Ullah¹, Hamid Irshad^1*, Asma Latif¹, Riasat Wasee Ullah¹, Muhammad Jahangir¹, Muhammad Afzal², Shahid Ali Khan², Sarosh Majid Salaria³

¹Animal Health Research Laboratories, Animal Sciences Institute, National Agricultural Research Centre, Park Road, Chak Shahzad, Islamabad, Pakistan.
²FAO-UN Pakistan (GCP/PAK/127/USA), NARC, Park Road, Islamabad, Pakistan.
³Azad Jammu and Kashmir Medical College, Muzaffarabad, Azad Kashmir.

DOI: 10.4236/jbm.2014.26004                

Abstract

The current study reports the outbreaks of Peste des Petits Ruminants (PPR) in the small ruminant population of Pakistan. The objectives were to understand the clinical picture of disease under field conditions, estimate the basic epidemiological parameters for the local population of small ruminants and to determine the spatial and temporal distribution of PPR during 2005 to 2007 in Pakistan. A total of 62 outbreaks were investigated among sheep and goat flocks in the five provinces of Pakistan and Azad Jammu & Kashmir (AJK). The PPR virus activity in these outbreaks was demonstrated by clinical picture and presence of PPR virus specific antibodies by employing cELISA. The combined estimates of mean cumulative morbidity and mortality for sheep and goats were estimated 65.37% and 26.51% respectively with a case fatality of 40.40%. The species specific mean cumulative morbidity, mortality and case fatality for goats were 68.80%, 29.45% and 42.75% respectively, while these estimates for sheep were 48.77%, 14.98% and of 26.16% respectively. These estimates for goats were significantly higher (P < 0.001 to P = 0.001) than those for sheep. It was concluded that PPR is wide spread throughout the country and epidemiological picture suggest that disease has established as an endemic infection in the country.

Keywords

PPR, Sheep, Goat, Cumulative Morbidity, Cumulative Mortality, Case Fatality

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

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