A Clinical, Pathological, Epidemiological and Molecular Investigation of Recent Outbreaks of Peste des Petits Ruminants Virus in Domestic and Wild Small Ruminants in the Abu Dhabi Emirate, United Arab Emirates.
Hassan Zackaria Ali IshagAbdelnasir Mohammed Adam TerabYassir Mohammed EltahirEl Tigani Ahmed El Tigani-AsilNasereldien Altaib Hussein KhalilEsamt Faisal Malik GasimMohd Farouk YuosfSaeed Mohamed Saeed Al YammahiAsma Mohammed Amer Al MansooriSalama Suhail Mohammed Al MuhairiZulaikha Mohamed Abdel Hameed Al HammadiAsma Abdi Mohamed ShahMajd Mohamed Azmi Naser AlherbawiMervat Mari Hassan Al NuaimatOum Keltoum BensalahAbdelmalik Ibrahim KhalafallaPublished in: Veterinary sciences (2023)
(1) Background: Peste des petits ruminants (PPR) is a highly contagious animal disease affecting small ruminants, leading to significant economic losses. There has been little published data on PPR virus (PPRV) infection in the United Arab Emirates (UAE); (2) Methods: four outbreaks reported in goats and Dama gazelle in 2021 were investigated using pathological and molecular testing; (3) Results: The infected animals showed symptoms of dyspnea, oculo-nasal secretions, cough, and diarrhea. Necropsy findings were almost similar in all examined animals and compliant to the classical forms of the disease. Phylogenetic analysis based on N gene and F gene partial sequences revealed a circulation of PPRV Asian lineage IV in the UAE, and these sequences clustered close to the sequences of PPRV from United Arab Emirates, Pakistan, Tajikistan and Iran; (4) Conclusions: PPRV Asian lineage IV is currently circulating in the UAE. To the best of our knowledge, this is a first study describing PPRV in domestic small ruminant in the UAE.