Clinical, Pathological and Molecular Investigations of Peste des Petits Ruminants Virus Infection in Goats from Turkana County in Kenya
Clinical, Pathological and Molecular Investigations of Peste des Petits Ruminants Virus Infection in Goats from Turkana County in Kenya
Simon Mwangi Kihu1*, George Chege Gitao1, Lily Caroline Bebora1, Njenga Munene John1, Gidraph Gachunga Wairire2, Ndichu Maingi1, Raphael Githaiga Wahome1, Davis Njuguna Karanja1, Julius Otieno Oyugi3, Ernest Lutomia3
ABSTRACT
Peste des petits ruminants (PPR), an economically important morbillivirus infection of sheep and goats, is widely distributed in Middle East, Central and South Asia, China and Africa. Whereas PPR antibodies were first reported in Kenyan small stock as early as 1995, the clinical disease was observed later in 2006 following dramatic and devastating PPR outbreaks in Turkana County. In this context, an outbreak of PPRV was observed in Tukana County in 2011 and the current study detail the clinical, pathological and laboratory findings of this outbreak. The disease was clinically manifested by the depression, diarrhea, difficult breathing, muco-purulent ocular-nasal discharges with matted eyelids and encrusted nostrils and finally death. Clinical outcome, gross lesions and histological observations were suggestive of PPRV infection, which were confirmed by the application of a reverse transcription–polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). Collectively, results indicate the continuous persistence of PPRV in Kenya.
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