Hundreds of goats and sheep in Uganda's Karamoja region have died of Pest des Petits Ruminants (PPR), a highly contagious disease. The spread of the suspected disease was discovered during a field visit to the area by veterinary doctors from Karamoja and neighbouring Kenya in late March. The doctors were undergoing a three-day training on the Rift Valley Fever (RVF), PPR and on building capacity to train animal health workers to spread community awareness on the dangers of the diseases.
PPR is a severe, fast-spreading disease of mainly domestic small ruminants characterised by the sudden onset of depression, fever, discharges from the eyes and nose, sores in the mouth, disturbed breathing and cough, foul-smelling diarrhoea and death. The disease has put the whole of Turkana district in Kenya at risk and the neighbouring districts have been asked to be alert. In Rupa sub county that borders Turkana, one livestock owner, claimed to have lost about 400 goats out of the 560 he had before.
Dr. Daniel Wachira Irura of the Turkana Livestock Development Programme said the discharges from eyes, nose and mouth, as well as the loose faeces, contain large amounts of the virus. "Fine infective droplets are released into the air from these secretions and excretions, particularly when infected animals cough and sneeze. Other animals inhale the droplets and are likely to become infected," Irura said. "Although close contact is the most important way of transmitting the disease, it is suspected that infectious materials can also contaminate water and feed troughs and bedding, turning them into additional sources of infection."
These particular hazards are, however, probably fairly short-term since the PPR virus, like its close relative rinderpest, would not be expected to survive for long outside the host. Dr. Irura said, "Trade in small ruminants, at markets where animals from different sources are brought into close contact with one another, affords increased opportunities for PPR transmission, as does the development of intensive fattening units."
A veterinary doctor, Paul Lochap, said PPR was killing up to two thirds of the animals in some areas. "We reported the matter to higher authorities but to date we have not got the results confirming the existence of the PPR," D. Lochap said.
PPR outbreaks can be controlled through quarantine, combined with the use of focused "ring" vaccinations and immunisation in high-risk populations. The vaccines can protect small ruminants against PPR for at least three years.
The Monitor
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