Abstract:
A cross-sectional study was carried out from November 2019 to July 2020 to determine the seroprevalence and risk factors of PPR in non-vaccinated areas, determine antibody/immunity level of vaccinated sheep and goats, assess the perception and awareness of farmers, and to investigate the incidence and recent circulation of PPR virus in field samples collected from small ruminants of Metekel zone, North West Ethiopia. Multistage sampling, with four hierarchical stages, was used as sampling strategy. Rural kebeles and individual animal were selected by simple random sampling. A total of 529 serum samples were collected from sheep and goats in the study districts and 14 swab samples were collected from the suspected animals for the presence of PPR viral antigen. All samples were examined for the presence of PPRV RNA by one step RT-PCR assays. Logistic regression was used to quantify the association between the putative risk factors and sero-prevalence of PPR. PPR outbreak was occurred in Dangur district with morbidity, mortality and case fatality rates of 29.5%, 10.9%, 37.07% in small ruminants, respectively. The overall seroprevalence of PPR virus antibody was 32.5% and 69.8% in unvaccinated and vaccinated small ruminants, respectively. The multivariable logistic regression model revealed that sex, male, communal grazing, large herd size are significant risk factors of PPR seropositivity in sheep and goats. About 28.57 % of clinical samples examined were positive with RT-PCR for viral nucleic acid. According to the clinical and molecular findings, circulation of PPR virus among populations of sheep and goats has confirmed in the study areas, which warrants scheduling of regular vaccination. Movement restriction of animals from endemic areas, with strict quarantine and surveillance procedures should be implemented to prevent the spread of the disease and the transmission of the virus to different localities.