Seroprevalence and Associated Risk Factors of Peste des Petits Ruminants Among Ovine and Caprine in Selected Districts of Afar Region, Ethiopia

Abstract Background: Peste des petits ruminant (PPR) is an acute, highly contagious and economically important transboundary viral disease of small ruminants. Despite the fact that FAO and OIE plan to eradicate the disease by 2030, some studies indicated an increasing seropositivity of the PPR infection in sheep and goats in Ethiopia. A cross-sectional study was employed to estimate the seroprevalence of PPR and to assess risk factors during the study period, February to April, 2020. A total of 384 serum samples were collected from apparently healthy sheep and goats. Competitive Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assay was used to detect the presence of antibodies against PPR at national veterinary institute. Descriptive statistics, Pearson’s chi‑square (X2) and logistic regression analysis were used is this study.Results: The overall animal level seroprevalence of PPR virus was found to be 60.15% (n=231/384) and species level prevalence rate was found to be 38.18% (n= 42) in sheep and 68.98% (n= 189) in goats in the study areas. Among the associated risk factors considered; species, sex, age and herd sizes were significantly associated (P<0.05) with PPR disease occurrence. Among the associated risk factors considered in this study, species, sex, age and herd size were found to be statistically associated with the seropositivity of PPR infection. There was no statistically significant difference in the seroprevalence of the disease between study areas and body condition score in this study. Conclusion: The present study finding revealed that a higher seroprevalence of PPR virus infection and this confirms PPR virus is widely prevalent in small ruminants and circulating in Afar region. Further studies should be carried out on the entire region to determine PPR seroprevalence and to develop appropriate control and eradication strategies of PPR disease.