title: Seroprevalence of Sheep and Goat Pox, Peste Des Petits Ruminants and Rift Valley Fever in Saudi Arabia.
abstract: Sheep and goat pox, peste des petits ruminants and Rift Valley fever are important diseases of small ruminant livestock. Sheep and goat pox, along with peste des petits ruminants, are endemic throughout most of Africa, Asia and the Middle East. Whereas Rift Valley fever is endemic in Africa, outbreaks in the Middle East have been reported over the past decade, including the Arabian Peninsula. Saudi Arabia is a major importer of livestock, and understanding the prevalence of these viral infections would be useful for disease control. In this study, sera from sheep and goats were collected from 3 regions in Saudi Arabia. They were evaluated for antibodies specific to sheep and goat pox, peste des petits ruminants and Rift Valley fever by virus neutralization assays. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to evaluate the seroprevalence of these viruses in sheep and goats.
authors.affiliation: Canadian Food Inspection Agency, National Centre for Foreign Animal Disease, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.
authors.forename: Hani
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Boshra
authors.affiliation: Canadian Food Inspection Agency, National Centre for Foreign Animal Disease, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.
authors.forename: Thang
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Truong
authors.affiliation: Canadian Food Inspection Agency, National Centre for Foreign Animal Disease, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada; Department of Immunology, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.
authors.forename: Shawn
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Babiuk
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology and Parasitology, College of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Resources, King Faisal University, Al-Hasa, Saudi Arabia; Department of Virology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Kafrelsheikh University, Kafrelsheikh, Egypt.
authors.forename: Maged Gomaa
authors.initials: MG
authors.lastname: Hemida
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D018151:Capripoxvirus / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D005843:Geography; D015511:Goat Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000821:virology; D006041:Goats; D008297:Male; D029021:Peste-des-Petits-Ruminants / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000821:virology; D018107:Peste-des-petits-ruminants virus / Q000502:physiology; D012295:Rift Valley Fever / Q000453:epidemiology*; D012529:Saudi Arabia / Q000453:epidemiology; D016036:Seroepidemiologic Studies; D012756:Sheep; D012757:Sheep Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000821:virology