title: Re-emergence of Peste des Petits Ruminants virus in 2015 in Morocco: Molecular characterization and experimental infection in Alpine goats.
abstract: Peste des Petits Ruminants (PPR) is a transboundary viral disease of small ruminants that causes huge economic losses in Africa, The Middle East and Asia. In Morocco, the first PPR outbreak was notified in 2008. Since then no cases were reported for seven years, probably due to three successive vaccination campaigns during 2008-2011 and close surveillance at the border areas. In June 2015, the disease re-emerged in Morocco, raising questions about the origin of the virus. The PPR virus was confirmed by qRT-PCR and virus was isolated from clinical samples on VeroNectin-4 cells. The disease was experimentally reproduced in Alpine goats using both sheep and goat derived outbreak isolates. Molecular characterization of the 2015 Moroccan PPR isolate confirmed the identity of the virus as lineage IV, closely related to the 2012 Algerian (KP793696) and 2012 Tunisian (KM068121) isolates and significantly distinct from the previous PPRV Morocco 2008 strain (HQ131927). Therefore this study confirms a new incursion of PPR virus in Morocco during 2015 and highlights the urgency of implementation of a common control strategy to combat PPR in Maghreb region in North Africa.
authors.affiliation: Research and Development, MCI Santé Animale, Lot. 157, Z. I., Sud-Ouest (ERAC) B.P.: 278, Mohammedia 28810, Morocco; Institut Agronomique et Vétérinaire Hassan II, Rabat, Morocco. Electronic address: fz.fakri@mci-santeanimale.com.
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Fakri
authors.affiliation: Research and Development, MCI Santé Animale, Lot. 157, Z. I., Sud-Ouest (ERAC) B.P.: 278, Mohammedia 28810, Morocco.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Embarki
authors.affiliation: The Pirbright Institute, Ash Road, Pirbright, Surrey, GU24 0NF, UK.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Parida
authors.affiliation: Research and Development, MCI Santé Animale, Lot. 157, Z. I., Sud-Ouest (ERAC) B.P.: 278, Mohammedia 28810, Morocco.
authors.forename: Z
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Bamouh
authors.affiliation: Research and Development, MCI Santé Animale, Lot. 157, Z. I., Sud-Ouest (ERAC) B.P.: 278, Mohammedia 28810, Morocco.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Jazouli
authors.affiliation: The Pirbright Institute, Ash Road, Pirbright, Surrey, GU24 0NF, UK.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mahapatra
authors.affiliation: Research and Development, MCI Santé Animale, Lot. 157, Z. I., Sud-Ouest (ERAC) B.P.: 278, Mohammedia 28810, Morocco.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Tadlaoui
authors.affiliation: Institut Agronomique et Vétérinaire Hassan II, Rabat, Morocco.
authors.forename: O
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Fassi-Fihri
authors.affiliation: IWK Health Centre, Canadian Center for Vaccinology, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Canada.
authors.forename: C D
authors.initials: CD
authors.lastname: Richardson
authors.affiliation: Research and Development, MCI Santé Animale, Lot. 157, Z. I., Sud-Ouest (ERAC) B.P.: 278, Mohammedia 28810, Morocco.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Elharrak
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D021821:Communicable Diseases, Emerging; D016679:Genome, Viral; D006041:Goats; D017720:Molecular Epidemiology; D009018:Morocco / Q000453:epidemiology; D029021:Peste-des-Petits-Ruminants / Q000453:epidemiology*; D018107:Peste-des-petits-ruminants virus / Q000235:genetics*; D010802:Phylogeny
keywords: Control strategy; Experimental infection; Maghreb region, North Africa; Morocco; PPR; Phylogenetic analysis; Virus isolation