Spillover of Peste des Petits Ruminants Virus from Domestic to Wild Ruminants in the Serengeti Ecosystem, Tanzania

Abstract

We tested wildlife inhabiting areas near domestic livestock, pastures, and water sources in the Ngorongoro district in the Serengeti ecosystem of northern Tanzania and found 63% seropositivity for peste des petits ruminants virus. Sequencing of the viral genome from sick sheep in the area confirmed lineage II virus circulation.

Keywords: Africa; Serengeti; Tanzania; animals; ecosystem; epidemiosurveillance; morbillivirus; peste des petits ruminants virus; phylogenetic analysis; ruminants; viruses; wildlife-livestock interface.

Figure 1

Geospatial map of sampling area showing distribution of buffalo (2014) and nonbuffalo (2006) species in the Greater Serengeti Ecosystem, northern Tanzania. Map is constructed on the basis of aerial census data and sites of livestock and wildlife herds sampled in June 2014 and found to be positive for peste des petits ruminants virus (PPRV) infection in the Ngorongoro Conservation Area.

Figure 2

Neighbor-joining tree constructed on the basis of partial N-gene sequences of peste des petits ruminants virus (PPRV), showing relationships among the PPRV isolates from Africa. The Kimura 2-parameter model was used to calculate percentages (indicated by numbers beside branches) of replicate trees in which the associated taxa clustered together in 1,000 bootstrap replicates. Arrow indicates isolates sequenced in this study; sequences have been submitted to GenBank and are awaiting accession numbers. Scale bar indicates nucleotide substitutions per site.