267 Pakistan Veterinary Journal ISSN: 0253-8318 (PRINT), 2074-7764 (ONLINE) Accessible at: www.pvj.com.pk Diagnosis and Control Strategies for Peste Des Petits Ruminants Virus: Global and Pakistan Perspectives Muhammad Abubakar*, Samina Ashiq 2 , Aamir Bin Zahoor 1 , Muhammad Javed Arshed and Ashley C. Banyard 3 National Veterinary Laboratory, Park Road, Islamabad, Pakistan; 2 Centre of Biotechnology and Microbiology, University of Peshawar, Pakistan; 1 PARC Institute of Advance Studies in Agriculture (PIASA), NARC, Park Road, Islamabad, Pakistan; 3 Wildlife Zoonoses and Vector Borne Disease Research Group, Animal Health and Veterinary Laboratories Agency, Weybridge, New Haw Surrey, KT15 3NB, UK *Corresponding author: mabnvl@gmail.com (Also affiliated with PARC). ARTICLE HISTORY ABSTRACT Received: Revised: Accepted: May 09, 2011 June 06, 2011 June 15, 2011 Key words: Control Strategies Diagnosis Pakistan Perspectives Peste des petits ruminants virus Peste des petits ruminants virus (PPRV) causes an acute and highly contagious disease and belongs to the family Paramyxoviridae and genus Morbillivirus. The control of animal diseases is one of the primary objectives of government livestock departments in Pakistan. Control of any viral disease requires rapid, specific and sensitive diagnostic tests and efficacious vaccines. Small ruminants infected with PPRV are routinely diagnosed on the basis of clinical examination, gross pathology, histological findings and laboratory confirmation. A number of serological and molecular diagnostic tests are used for the detection of PPRV. Control of PPRV may be attained using measures including movement control of sheep and goats from affected areas, quarantine of infected animals, removal of potentially infected fomites and a restriction on the importation of sheep and goats from infected areas. The effective way to control PPR in Pakistan is by mass immunization of small ruminants as strict sanitary control measures, including the stamping out policy are not economically viable. Therefore, the control of PPR requires an effective vaccine and for this purpose several vaccines such as homologous and recombinant vaccines have been developed. ©2011 PVJ. All rights reserved To Cite This Article: Abubakar M, S Ashiq, AB Zahoor, MJ Arshed and AC Banyard, 2011. Diagnosis and control strategies for peste des petits ruminants virus: Global and Pakistan perspectives. Pak Vet J, 31(4): 267-274. INTRODUCTION Worldwide, the livestock sector accounts for 40% of the agricultural gross domestic product (GDP) (Steinfeld et al., 2006). Within Pakistan, the livestock sector plays a vital role in the economy as it contributes more than 50% to the value addition in the agriculture sector and almost 11% to the Pakistani GDP. In the rural community of Pakistan, about 30-35 million people raise livestock such as sheep and goats as a supplementary occupation, with 5- 6 sheep/goats per family. In Pakistan, the total population of sheep and goats is approximately 25.5 and 61.9 million, respectively. Collectively, they produce 31 million tons of milk, 782.1 thousand tons mutton, 45.2 thousand tons of wool, 21.5 thousand tons of hair and 51.2 million skins per year (Anonymous, 2005–2006). Control of animal diseases is one of the primary objectives of government livestock departments in Pakistan. Priority pathogens for intervention measures in Pakistan include several transboundary animal diseases (TADs) including rinderpest, foot and mouth disease (FMD), Peste des Petits Ruminants (PPR) and avian influenza (AI). It is estimated that PPR causes annual losses of more than US$ 342.15 million through high levels of morbidity and mortality and the resulting depletion of genetic stock (Hussain et al., 2008). PPR is an acute and highly contagious viral disease of mainly domestic small ruminants such as goats and sheep but the virus can also affect wild animals. The morbidity and mortality rates can be as high as 100 and 90%, respectively (Lefevre and Diallo, 1990), and in a severe outbreak, mortality can reach to 100% (Radostits et al., 2000) although these rates can vary enormously with mortality sometimes being as low as 20% (Roeder and Obi, 1999). Due to the high mortality, PPRV was classified as an A-list viral pathogen by the OIE (Office International des Epizooties) but according to the new classification it is included as an OIE ‘notifiable’ disease. PPRV has been reported to be endemic in various parts of Asia and Africa (Roeder and Obi, 1999; Dhar et al., 2002; REVIEW ARTICLE