Sheep Pox Research Articles

Genetic characterization of sheep pox virus strains from outbreaks in Central Russia in 2018-2019.

This study investigates the phylogenomic relatedness between sheep pox viruses (SPPVs) circulating in Central Russia in 2018-2019 with the NISKHI vaccine strain used in the country, based on their complete genome sequences. The sheep pox outbreaks occurred 1 year apart in the adjacent regions of Tula and Moscow. Full genome sequences were generated by sequencing DNA directly obtained from Trizol-extracted scabs, using the DNBSEQ-400 platform (MGI Tech, China). Phylogenetic analysis indicated that the SPPV isolates from Russia clusters with previously published sequences from Srinagar in the Kashmir province of India in 2000 (SPPV-Srinagar strain) as well as SPPV A strain from Kazakhstan in 2000. The aforementioned cluster belonged to a sister clade containing the NISKHI vaccine strain, thus indicating that the recent outbreaks were not genetically linked to the widely used vaccine.

Pathological studies and ORF 103 gene based molecular characterization of sheep pox virus from outbreaks in Maharashtra, India

Sheep and goat pox are endemic in India and causes considerable losses to the animal husbandry sector every year. There are multiple reports of this disease from different states of India; however, information on the occurrence of this disease in Maharashtra state is very scanty. In this context, the present investigation reports the outbreaks of sheep pox in Satara and Solapur districts of Maharashtra state, India, from August 2019 to February 2020 based on clinical signs, gross and histopathological lesions, and molecular detection. Additionally, the ORF 103 gene sequence analysis from field samples revealed 100 to 99% identity with SPPV from Egypt, China, Pune, Ahmedabad, and Makhdoom. In phylogeny, sequences of the present study grouped into SPPVs clade. The finding of this study adds to the knowledge of the epidemiology of sheep pox in Maharashtra state and may help in planning effective prevention and control strategies.

Development and Optimization of Indirect ELISAs for the Detection of Anti-Capripoxvirus Antibodies in Cattle, Sheep, and Goat Sera.

Sheeppox (SPP), goatpox (GTP), and lumpy skin disease (LSD) are economically significant pox diseases of ruminants, caused by sheeppox virus (SPPV), goatpox virus (GTPV), and lumpy skin disease virus (LSDV), respectively. SPPV and GTPV can infect both sheep and goats, while LSDV mainly affects cattle. The recent emergence of LSD in Asia and Europe and the repeated incursions of SPP in Greece, Bulgaria, and Russia highlight how these diseases can spread outside their endemic regions, stressing the urgent need to develop high-throughput serological surveillance tools. We expressed and tested two recombinant truncated proteins, the capripoxvirus homologs of the vaccinia virus C-type lectin-like protein A34 and the EEV glycoprotein A36, as antigens for an indirect ELISA (iELISA) to detect anti-capripoxvirus antibodies. Since A34 outperformed A36 by showing no cross-reactivity to anti-parapoxvirus antibodies, we optimized an A34 iELISA using two different working conditions, one for LSD in cattle and one for SPP/GTP in sheep and goats. Both displayed sound sensitivities and specificities: 98.81% and 98.72%, respectively, for the LSD iELISA, and 97.68% and 95.35%, respectively, for the SPP/GTP iELISA, and did not cross-react with anti-parapoxvirus antibodies of cattle, sheep, and goats. These assays could facilitate the implementation of capripox control programs through serosurveillance and the screening of animals for trade.

Monkeypox and other zoonotic poxviruses

Poxviruses have caused the most important diseases for humanity for a long time. An important triumph was achieved with the eradication of smallpox, defined by the World Health Organization in 1979. Poxviruses include significant agents that cause important animal diseases that are non-zoonotic and zoonotic. While humanity has been battling COVID-19, a new battle against monkeypox has recently emerged due to an increase in case numbers and the outbreak's global spread. The other points of the 2022 monkeypox outbreak that make it more serious than previous outbreaks are severe clinical outcomes such as encephalitis and death, and also the higher transmission rate, which occurs at approximately 99% in men, especially those who have sex with men. The 2022 monkeypox virus outbreak has focused public and scientific attention on poxviruses and potential bioterrorism risks posed by poxviruses. Therefore, it is aimed at writing a review that compiles information about monkeypox, cowpox, vaccinia, bovine papular stomatitis, orf, pseudocowpox, gray seal pox, and red deerpox viruses.

Propagation and Growth Kinetics of Sheep Pox Vaccine Virus in MDBK Cells

Propagation and Growth Kinetics of Sheep Pox Vaccine Virus in MDBK Cells

An Investigation into Major Sheep Diseases and Management Practices in North Shewa Zone, Oromia, Ethiopia.

Sheep have many advantages over large ruminants for most smallholder farmers: lower feed costs, quicker turnover, easy management, and appropriate size at slaughter can be mentioned. They produce in a wide range of agroecologies, from arid lowlands to extremely cool highlands. However, their productivity is hindered by disease burden and poor management practices. In the study area, information on the disease of sheep and related management practices is lacking. Thus, the study aimed to determine the major sheep diseases and management practices in North Shewa Zone, Oromia, Ethiopia. A cross-sectional study design was used from October 2020 to July 2021 in the zone. A multistage sampling technique was used to select study districts and their respective kebeles, while the households were purposively selected. Questionnaire survey, in-depth interview, and physical clinical examination were conducted. A total of 400 households were involved in this study, a majority (32.8%) of whom were illiterates. Ovine pasteurellosis (55.8%) was the major bacterial disease in highlands, whereas sheep pox (54.5%) was the most challenging viral disease in the area. Mange mites (41.3%) were the major parasitic disease. The design of houses was medium (34.5%) which were bedded using sand floor (79.8%) and grass (5.75%), but the drainage system of the house was poorly designed (46.8%) in highlands. A majority of the owners (67.3%) used traditional medicines for the treatment of sheep disease. This study concluded that the burden of the diseases was higher and the management practices were poor in the area, deteriorating the economic benefit of farmers from sheep production. Thus, it urges for operating technical interventions.

Effectiveness and profitability of preventive veterinary interventions in controlling infectious diseases of ruminant livestock in sub-Saharan Africa: a scoping review

Agriculture in general, and livestock production in particular, serve as a livelihood source for many people in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). In many settings, lack of control of infectious diseases hampers livestock productivity, undermining the livelihood of rural populations. This scoping review sought to identify veterinary interventions previously evaluated as well as their relative effectiveness in controlling infectious livestock diseases. To be included, papers had to be written in English, German or French, and had to describe the effectiveness and/or profitability of preventive veterinary intervention(s) against anthrax, blackleg, bovine tuberculosis, brucellosis, contagious bovine pleuropneumonia, contagious caprine pleuropneumonia, foot-and-mouth disease, goat pox, lumpy skin disease, pasteurellosis, peste des petits ruminants, and/or sheep pox in any SSA country. Of the 2748 publications initially screened, 84 met our inclusion criteria and were analyzed. Most of the studies (n = 73, 87%) evaluated the effectiveness and/or profitability of vaccination, applied exclusively, applied jointly with, or compared to strategies like deworming, antimicrobial treatment, surveillance, feed supplementation, culling and dipping in reducing morbidity and/or mortality to livestock diseases. The effectiveness and/or profitability of antimicrobial treatment (n = 5), test and slaughter (n = 5), and use of lay animal health workers (n = 1) applied exclusively, were evaluated in the other studies. Vaccination was largely found to be both effective and with positive return on investment. Ineffective vaccination was mainly due to loss of vaccine potency under unfavorable field conditions like adverse weather events, cold chain failure, and mismatch of circulating pathogen strain and the vaccines in use.In summary, vaccination is the most effective and profitable means of controlling infectious livestock diseases in SSA. However, to achieve effective control of these diseases, its implementation must integrate pathogen surveillance, and optimal vaccine delivery tools, to overcome the reported field challenges.

Isolation and molecular characterization of lumpy skin disease virus from hard ticks, Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) annulatus in Egypt

BackgroundLumpy skin disease (LSD), a disease of cattle and buffaloes, has recently become widely prevalent in Egypt. The aim of this study was to ascertain the potential role of Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) annulatus ticks in the transmission of this disease. Samples collected from suspected lumpy skin disease virus (LSDV) infected cows that had previously been vaccinated with the Romanian sheep pox virus (SPPV) in various Egyptian governorates were obtained between May to November over two consecutive years, namely 2018 and 2019. Ticks were morphologically identified and the partial cytochrome oxidase subunit I gene (COI) were sequenced, revealing that they were closely related to R. (Boophilus) annulatus. The G-protein-coupled chemokine receptor (GPCR) gene of the LSDV was used to test hard ticks.ResultsTwo positive samples from Kafr El-Sheikh province and one positive sample from Al-Behera province were reported. BLAST analysis revealed that the positive samples were closely related to the Kazakhstani Kubash/KAZ/16 strain (accession number MN642592). Phylogenetic analysis revealed that the GPCR gene of the LSDV recently circulating in Egypt belongs to a global cluster of field LSDV with a nucleotide identity of 98–100%. LSDV isolation was successfully performed four days after inoculation using 9 to 11-day-old embryonated chicken eggs showing characteristic focal white pock lesions dispersed on the choriallantoic membrane after three blind passages. Intracytoplasmic inclusion bodies, cell rupture, vacuoles in cells, and virus particles ovoid in shape were demonstrated by electron microscopy.ConclusionIn this study the role of hard ticks in the transmission of the LSDV to susceptible animals in Egypt was revealed and confirmed by various methods.

Barriers to vaccine use in small ruminants and poultry in Tanzania.

Vaccination is an important disease prevention and control measure; however, vaccine adoption by livestock farmers in Tanzania is still low. This cross-sectional study examined the challenges to vaccine use faced by livestock owners and animal health professionals (AHPs) in Tanzania. A questionnaire was administered to 216 households that kept small ruminants and poultry and 19 AHPs’ data were collected electronically via the survey platform Qualtrics, and descriptive statistics were performed. Households with poultry reported vaccinating mostly against Newcastle disease (91.7%), fowl pox (48.1%) and Gumboro disease (37.0%), whilst households with small ruminants reported contagious caprine pleuropneumonia (62.2%), sheep and goat pox (17.1%), foot-and-mouth disease (7.3%) and peste des petits ruminants (7.3%). The households’ decision to vaccinate was mostly influenced by knowledge of diseases (82.4%), disease history on the farm (69.4%) and vaccine price (63.4%). Most households (54.6%) experienced challenges when purchasing vaccines, including high vaccine cost (78.0%), long distance from vaccine source (61.0%) and vaccine unavailability (21.2%). The findings suggest that improving the knowledge of livestock owners regarding the priority diseases and the benefits of vaccination, establishing more vaccine suppliers, improving vaccine distribution and access and training AHPs and households on appropriate vaccine storage and handling are necessary to improve vaccine adoption and ensure vaccine quality and effectiveness.

Coinfection kinetics of goatpox virus and peste-des-petits-ruminants virus in Vero cells.

Goatpox, sheeppox, and peste-des-petits-ruminants (PPR) are economically important virus diseases affecting goats and sheep, which often cause coinfection/comorbidities in the field. Coinfection with these viruses leads to enhanced infection in natural scenarios in terms of morbidities and mortalities. Currently, individual live attenuated vaccines are being used to mitigate these diseases and research on combination vaccines for these diseases is encouraging. For the preparation of combination vaccines, vaccine strains of the peste-des-petits-ruminants virus (PPRV), goatpox virus (GTPV), and sheeppox virus (SPPV) are grown separately and GTPV + PPRV are mixed for vaccination of goats, and PPRV + SPPV for sheep. Growing capripox and PPRV strains in the same cells simultaneously without the titer loss will save the time and cost of production. In the current study, we have evaluated the coinfection kinetics of capripox virus and a PPRV using a candidate GTPV vaccine strain (originally caused infection in both goats and sheep in the field) and PPRV/Sungri/96 (vaccine strain) in Vero cells. At high multiplicity of infection (MOI), PPRV was excluded from coinfection by GTPV, whereas at a low multiplicity coexistence/accommodation was observed between PPRV and GTPV without loss of the titer. The results shed light on the possibility of the production of two vaccine strains in the same cells using the coinfection model economically.

Lumpy Skin Disease: An insights in Pakistan

Lumpy skin disease (LSD) is an enzootic infectious, seldom fatal and eruptive disease in Pakistan reported in 2022. It can result in variably high mortality and morbidity rates in animals characterized by nodules on their skin. LSD caused by Lumpy skin disease virus (LSDV), together with goatpox virus and sheeppox virus, belongs to genus Capripoxvirus and Poxviridae family. The disease affects a wide variety of domestic and wild animals, including buffaloes and cows. The main symptoms are high fever, nodular lesions on the skin, and mucous membranes of the respiratory and digestive tracts. The outbreak of lumpy skin disease caused severe economic losses among Pakistan's animal keepers by reducing milk, beef production, causing sterility in males and abortions in females. Crossbreed and female cattle had significantly higher disease prevalence than their male counterparts. The introduction of new animals into farms was discovered to be one of the most significant risk factors in disease transmission. The aim of current review was to provide the information about LSDV because no study has conducted in Pakistan as it is new disease reported in 2022. The current review of literature will be useful to field veterinarians, herders, and animal health decision makers in Pakistan, as well as in taking appropriate measures to prevent future outbreaks of this disease. Keywords: Domestic animals; Cattle; Lumpy skin disease; Poxviridae; Pakistan

The Prevalence of Lumpy Skin Disease in the Cattle Population: A Brief Study

Lumpy skin disease (LSD) is a generalized skin disease that is an infectious, eruptive, occasionally fatal disease of cattle caused by a virus associated with the Neethling poxvirus in the genus Capripoxvirus of the family Poxviridae. LSD was first described in Zambia and occurs in other most African countries and sporadically in the Middle East region. The genus Capripoxvirus of the family Poxviridae is the causative agent of Lumpy skin disease. Lumpy skin disease virus (LSDV) is closely related antigenically to sheep and goat poxviruses. In Ethiopia, limited works have been done on this disease so far and few studies have been reported on risk factors assessments, epidemiological aspects, seroprevalence, and financial impacts. LSDV transmission among cattle is by the mechanical haematophagus arthropod vectors. LSD is common during the wet season which is at the end of summer and the beginning of autumn. The control of LSD can be achieved through vaccination, restriction of animal movement, and eradication of infected and exposed animals.

A highly adaptable platform powered by CRISPR-Cas12a to diagnose lumpy skin disease in cattle

Lumpy skin disease (LSD) in cattle, a transboundary viral disease of cattle once restricted to Africa, has been spreading to many European and Asian countries in the past decade with huge economic losses. This emerging worldwide threat to cattle warrants the development of diagnostic methods for accurate disease screening of suspected samples to effectively control the spread of LSD. In this study, we integrated pre-amplification and three kinds of sensor systems with CRISPR and therefore established an LSD diagnosis platform with highly adaptable and ultra-sensitive advantages. It was the first CRISPR-powered platform that could identify lumpy skin disease virus from vaccine strains of goat pox virus and sheep pox virus. Its limit of detection (LOD) was one copy/reaction after introducing PCR or recombinase-aided amplification (RAA). Moreover, this platform achieved a satisfactory overall agreement in clinical diagnoses of 50 samples and its reproducibility and accuracy were superior to other qPCR methods we tested. The whole diagnostic procedure, from DNA extraction to the results, could complete in 5 h with a total cost of 1.7–9.6 $/test. Overall, this CRISPR-powered platform provided a novel diagnostic tool for portable, ultra-sensitive, rapid, and highly adaptable disease screening of LSD and may be an effective method to control this transboundary disease's spread.

Selection and validation of suitable reference gene for qPCR gene expression analysis in lamb testis cells under Sheep pox virus infection

Virus infection alters host gene expression, therefore ideal and stable reference housekeeping genes are required to normalise the expression of other expressed host genes in quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR). The suitable reference gene may vary in response to different viral infections in different hosts or cells. In the present study, we cultured primary lamb testis cells (LTC) and assessed the expression stability of seven widely used housekeeping genes (B2M, HMBS, HPRT1, HSP-90, POLR2A, 18s_RNA, GAPDH) as reference genes in Sheeppox virus (SPPV) infected and control (uninfected-0h) LTC at 0.5h, 4.0h, 8.0h, and 12.0h post-infection) using NormFinder, Bestkeeper, geNorm, and the comparative ΔCT method in RefFinder based on their expression levels. Analysis revealed that HSP90, 18s_RNA, HPRT, POLR2A, and B2M were the most stable genes from the panel in the individual analysis group in 0h, 0.5h, 4.0h, 8.0h, and 12.0h, respectively. Furthermore, B2M was shown to be the most stable reference gene in the combined control with the respective and overall infected groups, except the control group of 4.0hpi of SPPV infection. In this study, we selected the most suitable reference genes in LTC for particular time points of SPPV infection. The identified most suitable housekeeping gene can be used during normalization of expression of other targeted genes at aspecific time point of SPPV infection.

Adverse effect of vaccination in xenogeneic animals

Lumpy skin disease (LSD) is a devastating, emerging viral disease of cattle. It causes significant economic losses due to trade restrictions that are placed on infected animals and the biological effects of the disease: infertility, dramatic loss in milk production, induction of abortion and mortality. It is caused by lumpy skin disease virus (LSDV), which belongs to the Poxviridae family. Vaccination has been determined to be the most effective way to control LSD infection among livestock. However, some adverse effects have been reported in animals vaccinated with live vaccines. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to report the systemic lesions that are associated with LSD vaccination in xenogeneic animals. The aim of our study was to compare the immunogenicity and pathogenicity of a live attenuated vaccine of Romanian strain of sheeppox virus (SPPV) through study of two different routes of administration in xenogeneic animals (mice). Swiss male mice were inoculated with two doses of SPPV vaccine by two different routes intranasal (IN, through nebulisation), and intraperitoneal (IP) injection) and the levels of immunoglobulins and histopathological findings were reported. Our results showed marked increases in levels of immunoglobulins (Ig) dependent on the administration route: IgG in IP-inoculated mice and IgA in IN-vaccinated mice. IgM levels became markedly high after vaccination via both routes. Histologically, nebulisation of mice with SPPV vaccine caused more pulmonary lesions than did IP injection and promoted the proliferation of megakaryocytes in splenic tissues. In contrast, IP injection had less effect on pulmonary tissues and induced activation of extramedullary haematopoiesis (EH) in the hepatic tissues. LSD vaccination in xenogeneic animals caused serious systemic complications and the severity of the lesions caused to tissue depended on the route of administration.

Antibody response of sheep to simultaneous vaccination of foot-and-mouth disease, peste des petits ruminants, sheep pox and goat pox, and bluetongue vaccines.

There are many infectious animal diseases in T urkey and generally, vaccination is the primarly control strategy to combat them. However, it is difficult to apply all vaccines in a definite period in the field due to limitations of the labor and finance. Rapid vaccination and effective use of labor can be possible with the help of simultaneous vaccine administrations. The study aims to show the effects of simultaneous foot-and-mouth disease (FMD), peste des petits ruminants (PPR), sheep pox and goat pox (SGP), and bluetongue (BT) vaccine administration on the antibody response of sheep. For this aim, 30 sheep were divided into one experiment and 5 control groups. Blood samples were collected in each group at 0, 30 and 60 days post-vaccination (DPV). Immune response was measured with virus neutralization test (VNT) and, liquid phase blocking ELISA (LPBE) for FMDV; VNT for BTV and PPR. A live virus challenge study was performed to determine the immune response of SGP vaccine. As a result, antibody titers for each vaccine agent decreased on 60 DPV with the simultaneous vaccination except FMD. The difference between means of antibody titer decrease with single and simultaneous vaccinations is significant especially for BTV and PPR vaccines at 60DPV (p<0.05). Briefly, this decreasing immune response of three live vaccines can be explained with the development of the interference, administration of these vaccines from the same injection site, the effect of cytokines, especially IL-10 effect of SGP vaccine. It was concluded that four vaccines can not be used simultaneously in sheep.

Crossing the Line: Seroprevalence and Risk Factors for Transboundary Animal Diseases Along the Tanzania-Zambia Border.

Transboundary pathogens pose a threat to livelihood security in countries such as Zambia and Tanzania. This study aimed to investigate the seroprevalence of peste des petits ruminants virus (PPRV), foot and mouth disease virus (FMDV), sheep and goat pox virus (SGPV), Rift Valley fever virus (RVFV) and Brucella spp. in sheep and goats along the Tanzania-Zambia border. Another aim was to assess the association between certain predictor variables and seroprevalence, focusing on trade and proximity to an international border, to a town and to the Tanzania-Zambia highway. During September-October 2018, 486 serum samples from small ruminants in Zambia and 491 in Tanzania were collected and analyzed using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA). A questionnaire focused on management strategies was administered to each household. The animal-level seroprevalence in Zambia was 0.21% [95% confidence interval (CI) (0.01–1.14) for PPRV, 1.03% (95% CI 0.33–2.39) for FMDV, 0% (95% CI 0–0.76) for SGPV, 2.26% (95% CI 1.14–4.01) for RVFV and 1.65% (95% CI 0.71–3.22) for Brucella spp.]. In Tanzania, animal-level seroprevalence was 2.85% (95% CI 1.57–4.74) for PPRV, 16.9% (95% CI 13.7–20.5) for FMDV, 0.20% (95% CI 0.01–1.13) for SGPV, 3.26% (95% CI 1.87–5.24) for RVFV and 20.0% (95% CI 14.5–26.5) for Brucella spp. For PPRV (OR 6.83, 95% CI 1.37–34.0, p = 0.019) and FMDV (OR 5.68, 95% CI 1.58–20.3, p = 0.008), herds situated more than 30 km from an international border were more likely to be seropositive, while being located 10–30 km (OR 4.43, 95% CI 1.22–16.1 p = 0.024) from a border was identified as a risk factor for Brucella spp. For FMDV (OR 79.2, 95% CI 4.52–1388.9, p = 0.003), being situated within 30 km from a town was associated with seropositivity. Furthermore, contact with wild ruminants (OR 18.2, 95% CI 1.36–244), and the presence of sheep in the household (OR 5.20, 95% CI 1.00–26.9, p = 0.049), was associated with seropositivity for PPRV, and FMDV. No significant associations between trade or distance to the Tan-Zam highway and seroprevalence were found. We recommend that the impact of trade and proximity to borders, towns and roads should be further evaluated in larger studies, ideally incorporating aspects such as temporal trade fluctuations.

Determining the Duration of Maternal Immunity Against Sheep Pox in Lambs.

Maternal immunity may affect vaccination success in young lambs. This study was aimed to determine the duration of the maternal immunity in lambs born from vaccinated ewe against Sheep pox. The level of neutralizing antibody against Sheeppox virus (SPPV) was measured in 14 lambs that were fed colostrum of their immunized mother (MCF lambs; n = 14) or reared with colostrum of ewes that were not immunized against Sheep pox, as the control (C lambs; n = 7), using virus neutralization index. The lambs were randomly divided into four experimental groups and after blood sampling, they were challenged by a virulent SPPV at different postbirth days, including 15 (2 CF and 1 C lambs), 30 (4 CF and 2 C lambs), 60 (4 CF and 2 C lambs), and 90 (4 CF and 2 C lambs) days of age. All the C lambs had no antibody titers against SPPV. Results of the challenge test showed that, up to 60 days of age, the MCF lambs had only localized scabs at the inoculation site and did not show any secondary pock lesions associated with Sheep pox; while all the C lambs were infected (p < 0.05). However, the percentage of lambs with Sheep pox signs was not different between C and MCF lambs after the challenge test at 90 days old lambs (p > 0.05), indicating decrease of maternal immunity. These findings revealed that the duration of maternal immunity against SPPV is ∼60 days, and vaccination is better to be performed at later ages.

The complete genome sequence of Indian sheeppox vaccine virus and comparative analysis with other capripoxviruses

Sheeppox virus (SPPV) is responsible for a significant economic loss to sheep husbandry in enzootic regions of Africa, the Middle East, and Asia including the Indian subcontinent. In this study, we present the complete genome sequence of SPPV vaccine strain SPPV-Srin38/00 from India determined by next-generation sequencing (NGS) using Illumina technology. The attenuated Srinagar vaccine strain of SPPV (SPPV-Srin38/00) was developed by serial passaging the virus initially in lamb testes (LT) cells followed by Vero cell line. The SPPV-Srin38/00 virus has a genome size of 150, 103bp, which encodes for 147 functional putative genes and consists of a central coding region flanked by two identical 2353bp inverted terminal repeats (ITRs). Comparative phylogenetic analysis based on complete genome sequences of Capripoxviruses formed three distinct groups each for SPPV, GTPV, and LSDV with clustering of SPPV-Srin38/00 strain with SPPV-A strain. Nine ORFs of SPPV-Srin38/00 namely SPPV-Srin_002/SPPV-Srin_155, SPPV-Srin_004/SPPV-Srin_153, SPPV-Srin_009, SPPV-Srin_013, SPPV-Srin_026, SPPV-Srin_132, and SPPV-Srin_136 were found to be fragmented as compared to LSDV, whereas only one ORF (such as SPPV-Srin_136) was found to be fragmented as compared to GTPV. SPPV genomes, including the SPPV-Srin38/00 strain, shared 99.78-99.98% intraspecies nucleotide identity, indicating that SPPV strains have extremely low genetic diversity. The strain shared 96.80-97.08% and 97.11-97.61% nt identity with GTPV and LSDV strains, respectively. Its ORFs 016, 021, 022, 130 and 138 are the least identical ORFs among three species of the genus Capripoxvirus with 72.5-93% aa identity to GTPV and LSDV strains and may be potentially used for differentiation of CaPV species. This study may contribute to a better understanding of the epidemiology and evolution of capripoxviruses as well as the development of specific detection methods, better expression vectors, and vaccines with improved safety and efficacy.

Seroprevalence of sheeppox and goatpox virus in Asia and African continent: A systematic review and meta-analysis (Scientometrics).

Background and Aim:Two endemic capripox infectious diseases, sheeppox (SP) and goatpox (GP) are common in Asia, Africa, and the Middle East. Sheep and goats, in general, are considered current assets of small and marginal farmers and have significant economic value in terms of meat, wool, and skin/hide production. Sheep and goat populations in India total 148.88 million and 74.26 million, respectively. Capripox caused US$ 2.3 million (Indian Rupee [INR] 105 million) in economic damages in Maharashtra (India) alone, and it took over 6 years for a flock to recover from the outbreak. The projected yearly loss at the national level is US$ 27.47 million (INR 1250 million). As a result, Capripox diseases put small and marginal farmers under much financial strain. The present study estimates the seroprevalence of SP and GP diseases in the Asian and African continents using systematic review and meta-analysis. The results of the study will help researchers and policymakers to understand the spatial and temporal distribution of the disease and its burden. In addition, the results are also helpful to design and implement location-specific prevention and eradication measures against these diseases.Materials and Methods:Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis guidelines of Cochran collaborations were used for systematic review and subsequently meta-analysis were used. The literature was collected from various databases. Initial search string resulted in more than nine thousand articles for the period 2000 to 2020 using the different combinations of keywords and Boolean operators (or not) asterisk* and quotation marks. Out of 9398 papers, 80 studies were chosen for complete test reviews and quality bias evaluation using the inclusion and exclusion criteria. Finally, 21 articles were used for the meta-analysis. The statistical study employed fixed effects and random effects models using R.Results:Seroprevalence of SP and GP was calculated using studies with a cumulative sample size of 4352, out of which sheep and goats’ samples together contribute 48%, followed by sheep (32%) and goat (21%). The result of the meta-regression revealed that detection techniques had a significant impact on the overall effect size at 5% level (Qm=14.12). Subgroup analysis of polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test with samples was further grouped into two categories based on the median, and it revealed that 62% of samples used PCR as a detecting test followed by group-II.Conclusion:From the study, it is concluded that SP and GP diseases are highly prevalent; hence, effective vaccines, proper education to farmers through extension activity, and transboundary disease movement restriction are necessary for the control and eradication of the disease.