ANIHWA CALL1:Improved Understanding of Epidemiology of PPR (IUEPPR)

小反刍兽疫是一种具有重要经济意义的疾病，尤其影响最贫困人口的家庭经济，主要影响非洲、中东和亚洲的家养绵羊和山羊。它的病原体是一种与牛瘟病毒（RPV）密切相关的麻疹病毒，该病毒刚刚被根除，是继天花病毒之后第一个被根除的动物病毒。小反刍兽疫病毒（PPRV）可感染牛科、鹿科和猪科的多种偶蹄动物，如非洲野牛、羚羊、鹿、野山羊、绵羊鹿和猪（Kock等人，2006年，2008年；Furley 1987年；Abubakar等人，2011年）。这些物种中有许多是高度濒危物种（IUCN 2012年红色名录），尤其是那些来自以小型牲畜为主的山区和干旱地区的物种。尽管有控制小反刍兽疫的有效疫苗和诊断测试，它仍在迅速蔓延。它现在在通往欧盟的门户土耳其，威胁着南部非洲。小反刍兽疫管理的失败可能与以下两方面有关：一是停止接种具有交叉保护作用并广泛用于家养绵羊和山羊的小反刍兽疫疫苗；二是对小型畜牧业的忽视。从历史上看，在中东围栏内饲养的野生偶蹄动物中观察到来自受感染的家养绵羊和山羊的小反刍兽疫外溢。最近，在自由放养的野生动物中报告了自然感染，特别是西藏的inbharal (Bao等人，2011& 2012)，巴基斯坦的ibex （Abubakar等人，2011& 2012）和库尔德斯坦的野生山羊（Hoffmann等人，2012）。所有这些野生动物暴发都与畜禽疫病感染有关。野生动物在小反刍兽疫流行病学中的作用尚不清楚（Banyard et al., 2010）。目前尚不清楚野生动物是否有助于PPRV在当地的传播、传播和维持，因此可能将不同的牲畜放牧区联系起来（Baron et al., 2011）。PPRV野生动物数据太少，无法得出任何结论。现有小反刍动物疫病监测诊断工具，但它们不能快速发现现场感染，妨碍了快速控制和快速现场测试，例如横向流动装置和环介导等温扩增（LAMP），需要开发和验证。一个挑战是获取野生动物样本，以支付技术和相关费用。目前的方法需要捕获动物进行取样。最近从牲畜粪便中成功获得抗体和病毒抗原（Abubakar等人，2012年）表明，这种方法可能适用于野生动物。在大流行病的边界需要紧急关注。土耳其是报告小反刍兽疫暴发的距离欧洲最近的国家（尽管与亚洲土耳其相比，该疾病在欧洲土耳其的传播范围较小，但2011-2012年在欧洲土耳其有20例实验室确认的小反刍兽疫暴发报告）。它拥有与欧洲相同的野生反刍动物群落，包括山羊科（野生山羊，羚羊）和鹿科的代表。野山羊作为家羊的祖先而备受关注；鹿科（狍，马鹿）很重要，因为它们是欧洲分布最广、数量最多的野生反刍动物。这些野生反刍动物可能在PPRV感染的遥远种群和健康的家养绵羊和山羊种群之间发挥桥梁作用。迫切需要研究来阐明小反刍兽疫在野生动物物种和种群中的流行病学（Munir, 2013），包括基因组学、毒力和野外生态流行病学研究，这对于建立高效和有效的小反刍兽疫控制策略至关重要。

PPR is an economically important disease, especially affecting the household economy of the poorest people, affecting mainly domestic sheep and goats in Africa, the Middle East and Asia. Its causative agent is a Morbillivirus closely related to rinderpest virus (RPV) which has just been eradicated, the first-ever animal virus eradicated And the second after smallpox virus. PPR virus (PPRV) infects a wide host range of cloven hoofed animals of the families Bovidae, Cervidae and Suidae, e.g. African buffalo Syncerus caffer, antelopes, deer, wild goat, sheep deer and pigs(Kock et al., 2006, 2008; Furley 1987; Abubakar et al., 2011). Many of these species are highly endangered (IUCN Red List 2012), especially those from mountainous and arid regions, where small livestock predominate. It is spreading rapidly despite availability of effective vaccines and diagnostic tests for PPR control. It is now in Turkey at the gateway to the European Union and threatening southern Africa. The failure to manage PPR is perhaps, linked to both cessation of RPV vaccination which was cross protective and widely used in domestic sheep and goats and inattention to the small livestock sector. Historically, PPR spill-over from infected domestic sheep and goats was observed in wild artiodactyls kept in fenced enclosures in the Middle East. More recently, natural infection was reported in free-ranging wildlife, notably inbharal in Tibet (Bao et al., 2011 & 2012), ibex in Pakistan (Abubakar et al., 2011& 2012), and wild goats in Kurdistan (Hoffmann et al., 2012). All these wildlife outbreaks were associated with PPR-infected livestock. The role of wildlife in PPR epidemiology remains unclear (Banyard et al., 2010). It is not known whether wildlife contributes to the local transmission, spread and maintenance of PPRV, thus possibly linking otherwise separate livestock grazing areas (Baron et al., 2011). PPRV wildlife data are too scarce to draw any conclusion. Diagnostic tools for PPR surveillance exist but they are not able to detect field infection rapidly, precluding rapid control and rapid field tests, such as Lateral Flow Devices and Loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP), need to be developed and validated. A challenge is accessing wildlife samples, for technical and related costs. Current methods require animal capture for sampling. Recent success in obtaining antibody and virus antigen from faeces in livestock (Abubakar et al., 2012) suggest that this method might be applicable in wildlife. Urgent attention is needed at the borders of the pandemic. Turkey is the closest country to Europe that has reported outbreaks of PPR (though disease is less widespread in European Turkey in comparison to Asian Turkey, there were 20 laboratory confirmed PPR outbreaks reports in domestic sheep and goats in European Turkey 2011-2012). It hosts the same community of wild ruminants as Europe including representatives from the Caprinae (wild goats, chamois) and Cervidae. Wild goats are of high interest as the ancestor of the domestic goats; Cervidae (roe deer, red deer) are of importance because they are the most widespread and abundant wild ruminants in Europe. Theses wild ruminants might play the role of bridge species for PPRV transmission between distant populations ofinfected and health domestic sheep and goats populations. Research is urgently needed to clarify the epidemiology of PPR in wildlife species and populations (Munir, 2013), including genomic, virulence and field eco-epidemiological studies, crucial to establish an efficient and effective control strategy for PPRV.