title: Partial genetic characterization of peste des petits ruminants virus from goats in northern and eastern Tanzania.
abstract: Peste des petits ruminants (PPR) is an acute viral disease of small ruminants. The disease was first reported in Tanzania in 2008 when it was confined to the Northern Zone districts bordering Kenya. The present study was carried out to confirm the presence of PPR virus (PPRV) in Tanzania and to establish their phylogenetic relationships. Samples (oculonasal swabs, tissues and whole blood) were obtained from live goats with clinical presentation suggestive of PPR and goats that died naturally in Ngorongoro (Northern Tanzania) and Mvomero (Eastern Tanzania) districts. The clinical signs observed in goats suspected with PPR included fever, dullness, diarrhea, lacrimation, matting of eye lids, purulent oculonasal discharges, cutaneous nodules, erosions on the soft palate and gums and labored breathing. Post mortem findings included pneumonia, congestion of the intestines, and hemorrhages in lymph nodes associated with the respiratory and gastrointestinal systems. PPRV was detected in 21 out of 71 tested animals using primers targeting the nucleoprotein (N) gene. Phylogenetic analysis, based on the N gene, indicated that PPRV obtained from Northern and Eastern Tanzania clustered with PPRV strains of Lineage III, together with PPRV from Sudan and Ethiopia. The findings of this study indicate that there are active PPRV infections in Northern and Eastern Tanzania, suggesting risks for potential spread of PPR in the rest of Tanzania.
authors.affiliation: Department of Veterinary Microbiology and Parasitology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Sokoine University of Agriculture, Morogoro, Tanzania.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kgotlele
authors.forename: E S
authors.initials: ES
authors.lastname: Macha
authors.forename: C J
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Kasanga
authors.forename: L J M
authors.initials: LJ
authors.lastname: Kusiluka
authors.forename: E D
authors.initials: ED
authors.lastname: Karimuribo
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Van Doorsselaere
authors.forename: J J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Wensman
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Munir
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Misinzo
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D016000:Cluster Analysis; D017931:DNA Primers / Q000235:genetics; D015511:Goat Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000473:pathology / Q000821:virology*; D006041:Goats; D008957:Models, Genetic; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009698:Nucleoproteins / Q000235:genetics; D029021:Peste-des-Petits-Ruminants / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000473:pathology / Q000821:virology*; D018107:Peste-des-petits-ruminants virus / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics; D010802:Phylogeny; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D013636:Tanzania / Q000453:epidemiology
chemical_list: D017931:DNA Primers; D009698:Nucleoproteins
keywords: Tanzania; nucleoprotein gene; peste des petits ruminants; peste des petits ruminants virus; phylogeny