Persistence of the historical lineage I of West Africa against the ongoing spread of the Asian lineage of peste des petits ruminants virus

• Published in: Transboundary and emerging diseases Vol. 68; no. 6; pp. 3107 - 3113
• Main Authors: Tounkara, Kadidia, Kwiatek, Olivier, Sidibe, Cheick Abou Kounta, Sery, Amadou, Dakouo, Marthin, Salami, Habib, Lo, Modou Moustapha, Ba, Aminata, Diop, Mariame, Niang, Mamadou, Libeau, Geneviève, Bataille, Arnaud
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Germany Hindawi Limited 01.11.2021; Wiley-Blackwell; John Wiley and Sons Inc
• Subjects: Animal biology; Animals; disease control; Life Sciences; Livestock; molecular epidemiology; Morbillivirus; Peste des petits ruminants; Phylogeny; Rapid Communication; Regular Issue; Santé publique et épidémiologie; small ruminant; transboundary; Veterinary medicine and animal Health; Viruses; Senegal; Niger; Mali; Asia; West Africa; molecular epidemiology; Morbillivirus; disease control; phylogeny; small ruminant; transboundary
• ISSN: 1865-1674; 1865-1682
• DOI: 10.1111/tbed.14066

Peste des petits ruminants (PPR) is a highly contagious disease of small ruminants. The causal agent, PPR virus (PPRV), is classified into four genetically distinct lineages. Lineage IV, originally from Asia, has shown a unique capacity to spread across Asia, the Middle East and Africa. Recent studies have reported its presence in two West African countries: Nigeria and Niger. Animals are frequently exchanged between Mali and Niger, which could allow the virus to enter and progress in Mali and to other West African countries. Here, PPRV samples were collected from sick goats between 2014 and 2017 in both Mali and in Senegal, on the border with Mali. Partial PPRV nucleoprotein gene was sequenced to identify the genetic lineage of the strains. Our results showed that lineage IV was present in south‐eastern Mali in 2017. This is currently the furthest West the lineage has been detected in West Africa. Surprisingly, we identified the persistence at least until 2014 of the supposedly extinct lineage I in two regions of Mali, Segou and Sikasso. Most PPRV sequences obtained in this study belonged to lineage II, which is dominant in West Africa. Phylogenetic analyses showed a close relationship between sequences obtained at the border between Senegal and Mali, supporting the hypothesis of an important movement of the virus between the two countries. Understanding the movement of animals between these countries, where the livestock trade is not fully controlled, is very important in the design of efficient control strategies to combat this devastating disease.