Peste Des Petits Ruminants: A First Retrospective Investigation Among Susceptible Animal Species in Qatar

Abstract A retrospective study was conducted to investigate the prevalence of peste des petits ruminants (PPR) in Qatar. Three hundred sixty-eight blood, swabs, and organ tissue samples collected between 2009 and 2016 were screened for PPR viral antibodies, antigens and nucleic acids using ELISA-Ab, ELISA-Ag and rRT-PCR, respectively. Fifteen PPR positive samples were subjected to virus isolation using Vero cell lines. 52% (n=192) of the samples were shown positive for PPR reporting first time infection of 52% (n=71) animal species including sheep, goat, deer, gazelle, addax, Oryx, blackbuck, deer, springbuck and waterbuck. Eight PPR virus (PPRV) field isolates demonstrated classical PPRV cytopathic effect (CPE) and shown positive for the virus antigens proving finally virus isolation. Sheep had the highest infection rate (55%) followed by wild ruminants (54%) and goats (47%). History wise, PPR might exist in Qatar before 2009. A systematic investigation is recommended to identify the risk factors associated with exposure of the susceptible animals to PPR infection, to test the susceptibility of the different species to PPR infection, and to describe the molecular entity and the replicative potentiality of the circulating field strains.