Abstract
Small ruminants play an important role in the livelihoods of resource-constrained communities. This study was initiated because of a massive outbreak of a respiratory disease in sheep and goats in Loliondo area in Ngorongoro district of Arusha region in Tanzania in 2016. During flock examination, a total of 240 serum samples and 61 nasal swabs were collected. Antibodies to small ruminant morbillivirus, causative agent of peste des petits ruminants (PPR), were detected from sera using a competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. A multiplex reverse transcription real-time polymerase chain reaction assay was used to detect four pathogens: small ruminant morbillivirus, Mycoplasma capricolum subspecies capripneumoniae, Pasteurella multocida, and Capripoxvirus from the nasal swabs. Overall seroprevalence of PPR was 74.6%, with all four pathogens detected from nasal swabs. Co-infections of small ruminant morbillivirus and Mycoplasma capricolum subspecies capripneumoniae, small ruminant morbillivirus and Capripoxvirus, small ruminant morbillivirus and Pasteurella multocida, and Mycoplasma capricolum subspecies capripneumoniae and Capripoxvirus were also detected. Presence of PPR and the other diseases in this study provided insight into the severity of the outbreak in sheep and goats in Ngorongoro district. Thus, laboratory confirmation is critical for prompt and appropriate interventions to be made for control of diseases in sheep and goats with similar clinical signs. The findings also call for research into development of combined vaccines targeting common diseases of small ruminants in Tanzania.
Highlights
Small ruminants contribute significantly to the economy of most rural communities in developing countries
Different clinical signs were observed from the sheep and goats examined randomly in the four villages
Clinical signs observed in the examined flocks included nodules on skin of some animals, nasal discharges, loss of body condition, and diarrhea
Summary
Small ruminants contribute significantly to the economy of most rural communities in developing countries. Though small ruminants contribute towards alleviation of poverty, their productivity is hampered by, among other things, infectious diseases and poor husbandry practices (FAO and OIE 2016). There are limited studies on small ruminants’ health and the information available is fragmented and sometimes incomplete (Farougou et al 2013). One area which is poorly documented is the magnitude of multiple infections, by different types of pathogens such as viruses, bacteria, and parasites, in sheep and goats that result in respiratory diseases (Settypalli et al 2016). Some clinical signs associated with respiratory diseases of small ruminants include ocular and nasal discharges, lesions in the oral and nasal mucus membranes, cough, pneumonia, diarrhea, and severe dehydration (Kul et al 2015; Roeder and Obi 1999).
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