Abstract
Peste des petits ruminants (PPR) is a deadly viral disease that mainly affects small domestic ruminants. This disease threaten global food security and rural economy but its control is complicated notably because of extensive, poorly monitored animal movements in infected regions. Here we combined the largest PPR virus genetic and animal mobility network data ever collected in a single region to improve our understanding of PPR endemic transmission dynamics in West African countries. Phylogenetic analyses identified the presence of multiple PPRV genetic clades that may be considered as part of different transmission networks evolving in parallel in West Africa. A strong correlation was found between virus genetic distance and network-related distances. Viruses sampled within the same mobility communities are significantly more likely to belong to the same genetic clade. These results provide evidence for the importance of animal mobility in PPR transmission in the region. Some nodes of the network were associated with PPRV sequences belonging to different clades, representing potential "hotspots" for PPR circulation. Our results suggest that combining genetic and mobility network data could help identifying sites that are key for virus entrance and spread in specific areas. Such information could enhance our capacity to develop locally adapted control and surveillance strategies, using among other risk factors, information on animal mobility.
Highlights
Peste des petits ruminants (PPR) is a highly pathogenic disease that mainly affects small domestic ruminants across Africa, Asia, and the Middle East [1,2]
We show for the first time that PPR virus genetic data can be combined with information on animal mobility to identify routes of PPR circulation in Senegal and neighbouring countries
The phylogenetic analysis based on partial N gene sequences showed that all peste des petits ruminants virus (PPRV) samples obtained belonged to the PPRV genetic lineage II, except for one sample from Sosorona in Mali, which clustered with lineage I (S1 Fig and S1 Data)
Summary
Peste des petits ruminants (PPR) is a highly pathogenic disease that mainly affects small domestic ruminants (sheep and goats) across Africa, Asia, and the Middle East [1,2]. PPR spreads rapidly among susceptible animals mostly through direct contact, with mortality rates sometimes reaching 90% in infected flocks [3]. PPR represents a threat to food security and to the livelihoods of smallholder farmers, with economic losses estimated at between US$1.5 and 2.1 billion per year [4]. PPR is the target of a global eradication campaign led by the World Animal Health Organisation (OIE) and the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) [5]. Importing infected sheep from abroad for the purpose of fattening was at the origin of the re-emergence of PPR in Morocco in 2015 just a few years after the disease had been completely eradicated [8]
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