Abstract

Peste des Petits Ruminants (PPR) has been considered as one of the most devastating transboundary diseases of wild and domestic small ruminants. A study was undertaken during 2014 - 2015 to detect the presence of antibodies against PPR virus (PPRV) among sheep and goats from 16 clusters representing three altitudinal gradients ranging from 150 to 2300 metres above sea level (masl) from southern low lands (terai: < 500 masl) to northern middle hills (500-1800 masl) and mountains (1800 - 2300 masl). A total of 552 sera samples from 524 goats, 16 chyangra (high mountain goat) and 12 sheep collected between February 2014 and December 2015 were screened using competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (c-ELISA) kits. Of the 552 sera tested, overall seropositive samples were 190/552 (34.42%) with the highest prevalence in goats of low land terai (62/138) (44.93%) followed by that of middle hills 74/229 (32.31%) and mountains 54/185 (29.19%). Species-wise prevalence was 29.38% (154/524) in goats and 37.5% (6/16) in chyangra. None of the sera from sheep was positive for PPRV antibodies. Though the vaccination history is unknown, this study has demonstrated the presence of PPRV antibodies in serum samples of goats across all altitudes. The gradient prevalence of PPRV antibodies in goats of terai, middle hills and mountains is indicative of proportional vaccination coverage in those areas. However, detection of antibodies against PPRV in chyangra dwelling in high mountains of Nepal in the absence of preventative PPR vaccination programme is suggestive of ongoing circulation of PPR virus.

Keywords: PPR; Chyangra; c-ELISA; Vaccination

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