jueves, 29 de diciembre de 2011

Genetic Characterization of Peste des Petits Ruminants Virus, Sierra Leone - Vol. 18 No. 1 - January 2012 - Emerging Infectious Disease journal - CDC

full-text:
Genetic Characterization of Peste des Petits Ruminants Virus, Sierra Leone - Vol. 18 No. 1 - January 2012 - Emerging Infectious Disease journal - CDC


Volume 18, Number 1—January 2012

Letter

Genetic Characterization of Peste des Petits Ruminants Virus, Sierra Leone

Suggested citation for this article
To the Editor: Peste des petits ruminants (PPR) is a highly infectious disease of small ruminants, characterized by high rates of illness and death and caused by a single-stranded RNA virus (peste des petits ruminants virus [PPRV]). PPRV can be divided into 4 genetically distinct lineages based on the nucleocapsid (N) gene (1). The lineages correlate well with geographic distribution of the virus, with lineages I and II mainly restricted to western and central Africa, lineage III to eastern Africa and the Arabian peninsula, and lineage IV to Southeast Asia, the Middle East, and more recently northern Africa (2).
PPRV is endemic to most of western Africa, and considered a major constraint on the livestock industry. In Sierra Leone, a country bordered by Guinea, Liberia, and the Atlantic Ocean, and having high goat and sheep populations, PPRV is believed to be the cause of outbreaks of respiratory disease with high death rates. Inadequate veterinary infrastructure and diagnostic capacity, exacerbated by the civil war in 1991–2002, however, has prevented confirmation. In this study, we confirmed presence of PPRV in Sierra Leone, which led to the official report of PPR to the World Organisation for Animal Health (Paris, France).
The study was conducted in April 2009 as part of a training mission organized at Teko Central Veterinary Laboratory, Makeni, Sierre Leone, by the World Organisation for Animal Health Collaborating Centre for Biotechnology–based Diagnosis of Infectious Diseases in Veterinary Medicine (www.sva.se/oie-ccExternal Web Site Icon) in collaboration with the Food and Agriculture Organization–Emergency Center for Transboundary Animal Diseases, Bamako, Mali. During the training, blood and serum samples were collected from goats (n = 9) and sheep (n = 1) from 2 smallholders with suspected outbreaks of PPR in the area around Makeni in central Sierra Leone. In addition, serum from 5 goats with respiratory disease was sampled at a livestock market in Kabala 100 km north of Makeni.
Serologic testing was performed at Teko. All serum samples (n = 15) were tested for PPRV antibodies by using a commercial ELISA (BDSL, Ayrshire, UK; 3); 12 (80%) of the samples were positive for PPRV.
Blood samples were collected on Nobuto filter strips (Advantec MFS Inc., Tokyo, Japan) and transported to the BioSafety Level 3 laboratory at the National Veterinary Institute, Uppsala, Sweden, for nucleic acid detection (4,5). RNA was eluted from the blood impregnated filter strips and screened for PPRV by using real-time RT-PCR specific for the N gene (6). Viral RNA was detected in 13 (87%) of the samples, with most of the positive samples indicating high viral load (cycle threshold <20).
For determination of the genetic lineage of detected viruses, RNA from all samples was subjected to PCR amplification of a 351-bp segment of the N gene by using the NP3/NP4 primer pair (7), but with a modified protocol using the One-Step RT-PCR kit (QIAGEN, Hilden, Germany) (5). Amplified PCR products were separated by electrophoresis, gel extracted, purified, and processed for sequencing by using ABI PRISM BigDye Terminator v3.1 kit (Applied Biosystems, Foster City, CA, USA), according to the manufacturer’s instructions.
N gene sequences were obtained from 10 (67%) of the samples, and showed 83%–100% nt identity level compared with sequences available in GenBank using the BLASTn tool (www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/blastExternal Web Site Icon) and 93%–100% identity between each other. Phylogenetic analysis was performed with 4 representative sequences (GenBank accession nos. JN602079–JN602082) from this study by using neighbor-joining and the Kimura 2-parameter model in MEGA5 (CEMI, Tempe, AZ, USA), including N gene sequences representing all 4 lineages.
Figure
Figure. Majority rule consensus tree of peste des petits ruminants viruses (PPRV) based on the variable region of the N gene (255 bp), constructed using the neighbor-joining method and the Kimura-2-parameter model...
The PPR viruses from Sierra Leone clustered in lineage II with viruses from Mali, Nigeria, and Ghana, and could further be distinguished into 2 clusters (Figure). One virus from Kabala clustered closely with viruses from Mali (Mali 99/1), whereas all others showed 100% identity with a virus from Nigeria (Nig/75/1), in many countries used as vaccine virus strain. In Sierra Leone at the time, however, PPR vaccination was not being performed, suggesting that obtained sequences originated from circulating field viruses related to Nig/75/1 rather than being vaccine derived. This suggestion was strongly supported by the clinical presentation typical of PPR. Surprisingly, no relationship was found with PPRV strains so far described from Guinea, the immediate neighboring country and closest livestock trading partner, or those from Senegal, Guinea-Bissau, Côte d’Ivoire, and Burkina Faso, which constitute lineage I.
In conclusion, we confirm the presence of PPRV in Sierra Leone, and provide genetic characterization of detected viruses, knowledge that is fundamental for control, prevention, and in the long run, eradication of the disease. The detection of 2 different sublineages at the livestock market in Kabala shows how markets can serve as mixing vessels, and also gives evidence of at least 2 separate introductions of PPRV into the country, underlining the transboundary nature of the disease, particularly in regions with uncontrolled livestock movements. Since this study, an official vaccination program based on Nigeria/75/1 has been launched.
Muhammad Munir, Siamak Zohari, Roland Suluku, Neil LeBlanc, Saidu Kanu, Francis A.-R. Sankoh, Mikael Berg, Mohamed L. Barrie, and Karl StåhlComments to Author 
Author affiliations: Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala, Sweden (M. Munir, S. Zohari, M. Berg, K. Ståhl); National Veterinary Institute, Uppsala (S. Zohari, N. LeBlanc, K. Ståhl); Njala University, Freetown, Sierra Leone (R. Suluku, S. Kanu); Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Food Security, Freetown (F.A.-R. Sankoh); Teko Central Veterinary Laboratory, Makeni, Sierra Leone (M.L. Barrie)

Acknowledgments

We thank Hermann Unger for providing the PPRV cELISA.
The training mission was financed by the Swedish International Development and Cooperation Agency Reference Group for Animal Health, and cofinanced by the EC FP6 projects FLUTRAIN (www.flutrain.euExternal Web Site Icon) and EPIZONE (Contract No. FOOD-CT-2006-016236), work package 4.4, (http://epizone-eu.netExternal Web Site Icon).

References

  1. Shaila  MS, Shamaki  D, Forsyth  MA, Diallo  A, Goatley  L, Kitching  RP, Geographic distribution of peste des petits ruminants viruses. Virus Res. 1996;43:14953.PubMed DOIExternal Web Site IconPubMedExternal Web Site Icon
  2. Banyard  AC, Parida  S, Batten  C, Oura  C, Kwiatek  O, Libeau  G. Global distribution of peste des petits ruminants virus and prospects for improved diagnosis and control. J Gen Virol. 2010;91:288597. DOIExternal Web Site IconPubMedExternal Web Site Icon
  3. Libeau  G, Prehaud  C, Lancelot  R, Colas  F, Guerre  L, Bishop  DHL, Development of a competitive ELISA for detecting antibodies to the peste des petits ruminants virus using a recombinant nucleoprotein. Res Vet Sci. 1995;58:505. PubMed DOIExternal Web Site IconPubMedExternal Web Site Icon
  4. Michaud  V, Gil  P, Kwiatek  O, Prome  S, Dixon  L, Romero  L, Long-term storage at tropical temperature of dried blood filter papers for detection and genotyping of RNA and DNA viruses by direct PCR. J Virol Methods. 2007;146:25765. DOIExternal Web Site IconPubMedExternal Web Site Icon
  5. Munir  M, Zohari  S, Saeed  A, Khan  QM, Abubakar  M, LeBlanc  N, Detection and phylogenetic analysis of peste des petits ruminants virus isolated from outbreaks in Punjab, Pakistan. Transbound Emerg Dis. 2011 Jul 21; [Epub ahead of print].
  6. Kwiatek  O, Keita  D, Gil  P, Fernández-Pinero  J, Jimenez Clavero  MA, Albina  E, Quantitative one-step real-time RT-PCR for the fast detection of the four genotypes of PPRV. J Virol Methods. 2010;165:16877. PubMed DOIExternal Web Site IconPubMedExternal Web Site Icon
  7. Couacy-Hymann  E, Roger  F, Hurard  C, Guillou  JP, Libeau  G, Diallo  A. Rapid and sensitive detection of peste des petits ruminants virus by a polymerase chain reaction assay. J Virol Methods. 2002;100:1725. DOIExternal Web Site IconPubMedExternal Web Site Icon

Figure

Suggested citation for this article: Munir M, Zohari S, Suluku R, LeBlanc N, Kanu S, Sankoh FAR, et al. Genetic characterization of Peste des Petits ruminants virus, Sierra Leone [letter]. Emerg Infect Dis ]serial on the Internet]. 2012 Jan [date cited]. http://dx.doi.org/10.3201/eid1801.111304External Web Site Icon
DOI: 10.3201/eid1801.111304

No hay comentarios:

Publicar un comentario