Molecular Detection of Peste des Petits Ruminants Virus (PPRV) in Goats and Sheep in Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria

Peste des petits ruminants (PPR) is a vaccine-preventable transboundary animal disease of goats and sheep majorly, and is regarded as a major constraint to small ruminant production especially in developing countries like Nigeria. Despite different strategies that have been employed to control PPR in Nigeria, cases of the disease are still reported in PPR-vaccinated and unvaccinated small ruminant farms. In this study, molecular detection of field PPR virus (PPRV) strains was carried out to determine the presence of PPRV. A total of 135 samples (45 oculo-nasal swabs and 90 tissue samples) were purposively collected between August and October 2020 from goats and sheep at the Akinyele live small ruminant market and at Akinyele and Amosun abattoirs in Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria. Using reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction with primers targeting the partial N-gene of PPRV, 10 out of the 135 (7.4%) field samples yielded positive results.. The results of this study reveal that PPRV currently circulates in Ibadan. These findings underscore the need for continuous PPR surveillance, more extensive characterization of circulating PPRV strains and the importance of consistent use of quality vaccines in the country to achieve more effective preventive and control strategies against the disease.