PESTE DES PETITS RUMINANTS

PESTE DES PETITS RUMINANTS IN IRAQ

In September 1998, Iraq reported an outbreak of peste des petits ruminants (PPR) in its northern governorates to OIE and FAO. Although this disease had been suspected in the central and northern governorates for several years, and was known to be present in neighbouring countries, this was the first official report of PPR in the country and caused great concern. PPR is a serious disease economically, and its transboundary nature could compromise control programmes for both PPR and rinderpest in neighbouring countries. Owing to the international sanctions imposed on Iraq, the Iraqi veterinary authorities had few resources to cope with this highly contagious disease of small ruminants.

The Iraqi Ministry of Agriculture requested FAO's assistance in controlling PPR. In 1999, an FAO TCP project was implemented to help eliminate the disease through focused vaccination, to establish and strengthen laboratory-assisted surveillance, to enhance the diagnostic capacity of field veterinary staff and to form a national network for surveillance and early warning systems against transboundary animal diseases. Vaccines, laboratory equipment and other materials were supplied, and two consultants, Dr Samir Hafez and Dr Adama Diallo, travelled to Iraq to assist in these tasks in late 1999. The consultants conducted workshops on laboratory methods in Baghdad, and on PPR recognition and control in 12 governorates.

The extent of PPR in Iraq was not well defined prior to the project, and still needs more investigation. However, information exchange during the consultancies has led to awareness building and an increased understanding of the situation:

• During the last few years, PPR was seen clinically in sheep and goats in Irbil and Dahuk Governorates, and has been suspected clinically in Mosul, As-Sulaimaniyah and Ta'amim, all of which are in the north of the country, whereas no clinical disease was suspected in the central and southern governorates. Being a disease that is easily confused with rinderpest in small ruminants or various infections leading to pneumonic signs, as well as being an exotic disease until recently, insufficient capacity to recognize PPR may have caused underreporting of the disease.

• The project has provided laboratory equipment and training for virus isolation, and the importance of collecting samples for virus isolation (tears, tissues) was stressed during the consultants' workshops. The diagnosis of PPR was finally confirmed (World Reference Laboratory) by polymerase chain reaction on nasal and ocular swabs collected in May 2000.
• Serological samples taken in the country prior to the suspected outbreak in 1998 were few and inconclusive.
• Results from serological samples taken after the suspected outbreak, and before any vaccination had started, established with high certainty the presence of natural PPR infection in northern Iraq. The status for the rest of the country remains uncertain.
• Before the TCP project had started and homologous PPR vaccine could be delivered, rinderpest vaccine was used to immunize small ruminants in northern Iraq. Unfortunately, vaccination took place without any ear-tagging or other identification of the animals, complicating any further serological studies of both PPR and rinderpest. Upon delivery of 1 500 000 doses of homologous PPR vaccine, a vaccination campaign in the Northern Governorates has been concentrated at the border areas with Mosul and with Turkey.

• The TCP project provided the Central Veterinary Laboratory in Baghdad with laboratory equipment and reagents (C-ELISA and immunocapture ELISA for PPR and rinderpest), and training for their use. In Erbil (northern governorates), ELISA equipment was already available. A need for further training and support was identified in both places to reach a fully functional capacity of these laboratories.

  The outbreak of PPR in 1998 was temporarily controlled in the affected areas, and the level of awareness and capability to discover and control new outbreaks has been increased during the TCP project. It was recommended not to carry out a countrywide mass vaccination until a better knowledge of the PPR infection has been obtained. A serosurveillance campaign for PPR was initiated in December by the Director-General of the Iraqi State Board for Veterinary Services. It is hoped that this campaign will shed light on the distribution of PPR in the remaining parts of the country.

PESTE DES PETITS RUMINANTS IN TURKEY

Turkey reports PPR

In September 1999, an outbreak of PPR in goats in Elazig Province in eastern Anatolia was reported by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Ankara, to the International Office of Epizootics (OIE). This was the first outbreak of PPR in Turkey ever reported to OIE.

A total of 47 goats were affected with six reported dead. No sheep were reported to be affected. The diagnosis was based on clinical, post-mortem and laboratory diagnoses. The disease was suspected to be related to movements of animals from the east. An emergency ring vaccination using homologous PPR vaccine was initiated. Subsequently, in January 2000, two new reports of PPR were sent by the Turkish Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs to OIE. These two locations are situated in different parts of the country: Isparta in the west and Mardin in eastern Anatolia. Affecting sheep only on this occasion, 416 cases and 38 deaths were reported. No information has been received regarding control actions and follow-up of these incidents.