Peste des Petits Ruminants (PPR) Dwarfs small ruminant production in sub-Saharan Africa! Article 2

In rural societies of Sub-Saharan Africa, small ruminants provide to smallholder farmers an opportunity of vibrant project options for sustainable livelihoods. Therefore, it is important to use appropriate technology that can protect the sector from collapse. This may include (but not limited to) community disease and parasite management, livestock husbandry skills (e.g., improved feeding), and finance services (Peng et al., 2019; Brandes et al., 2015; Marshall et al., 2019; Haile et al., 2018; Waha et al., 2018). Such initiatives are useful and can empower smallholder farmers and protect them from challenging factors such as diseases, e.g.  Peste des Petits Ruminants (PPR).

The importance of proctecting small ruminants from Peste des Petits Ruminants (PPR).

Small ruminants - totaling 4.5 billion heads Sub-Saharan Africa according to FAOSTAT - are the primary livestock resource of many poor rural families around the globe, including subsistence farmers and landless villagers as well as pastoralists. For these households, sheep and goats are a source of food and regular income, a means to capitalize savings, and a safety net during times of hardship. Selling animals or their products provides the necessary resources to access food, as well as educational and social services. Food products derived from sheep and goats are an essential part of the diet for many people around Africa and contribute to overcoming malnutrition. Sheep and goat milk and meat are of high nutritional value and provide high-quality protein, vitamins and minerals critical for cognitive development and physical strength, particularly for children. Small ruminants are reared within a variety of production systems, adding value to land, labor and assets: they produce milk, meat, wool, fiber and skins; they support the livelihoods of traders, processor, wholesalers and retailers involved in the value chain. The trade of live animals, sheep and goat meat and goat milk stretches from local to national, regional and international markets.  

Small ruminants are well adapted to arid and semi-arid environments, and are kept in a variety of production systems throughout the world. These include pastoral areas, where goats and sheep make a mixed flock. Households may totally depend on the animals for survival, as crop production is almost absent in such arid or desert areas. In particular, in the dry zone in the Sahel region, it is the only way of life. 

In Sub-Saharan Africa, the number of outbreaks of Peste des petits ruminants (PPR), also known as sheep and goat plague, fell by two-thirds in recent years, showing the commitment of the international community to combatting this highly contagious animal disease in Africa and raising hopes for meeting the goal of global eradication by 2030.

How To Control The Disease?

• Sick animals should be treated separately.  
• Care should be taken to ensure that the fluid discharged from the nose, mouth and eyes of the sick animal does not get into the body of other animals. 
• Goat houses should be cleaned with disinfectant.

Treatment: 

• There is no specific treatment for PPR. However, the death rate can be reduced by preventing stage 2 bacterial and parasitic infections through the application of drugs.
• Oxytetracycline and chlortetracycline are very effective in preventing stage 2 respiratory infections. 
• Studies have shown that food therapy and antibiotics such as enrofloxacin, safety four doses of good results. 
• Washing the face with 5% boro-glycerin makes the mouth ulcer much better. 
• However, around the eyes, nose, mouth should be cleaned with a clean cloth and cotton tube 2-3 times a day. 
• Sick goats should be isolated as soon as possible. 
• You need to contact the nearest livestock department immediately and seek the advice of a doctor. 
• If the sick animal dies, it must be buried or cremated.

Pro Tips: In order to get good results in this treatment, you need to ensure the use of standard compliant serum. Under no circumstances should an opaque or cloudy serum be used. Intravenously apply a very warm (350 – 360 – C) vein with extreme caution, otherwise adverse reactions may occur.

Resistance:

The best way to prevent PPR is to vaccinate goats and sheep regularly. In this case, PPR vaccine is officially provided in every Upazila Livestock Department. Interested farmers can collect PPR vaccines from that department.

Conclusion:

Various studies have shown that this integrated approach is very effective in treating PPR. At different stages of the infection, from the highest 90 percent to the lowest 80 percent of the animals have recovered with this treatment. 

In addition, the body of an animal that recovers from this disease develops immunity against PPR disease. The serum of all these animals can later be used in PPR treatment. Field level veterinarians and goat farmers can use this treatment method very easily.

References

 http://www.fao.org/ppr/background/what-is-ppr/en/

Brandes, R., Saghir, P., Galiè, A. and Barasa, V. (2015) 'ILRI’s experience with the Crop and Goat Project in Tanzania from a gender perspective'.

Haile, A., Gizaw, S., Getachew, T. and Rischkowsky, B. 'Challenges in small ruminant breeding programs and resulting investment priorities in Ethiopia'. Proceedings of the 11th World Congress on Genetics Applied to Livestock Production, Auckland.

Marshall, K., Gibson, J. P., Mwai, O., Mwacharo, J. M., Haile, A., Getachew, T., Mrode, R. and Kemp, S. J. (2019) 'Livestock Genomics for Developing Countries - African Examples in Practice', Frontiers in Genetics, 10.

Peng, S., Fu, E., Lee, S. and Tsai, S. (2019) 'Methods to ameliorate heat stress in non-native alpaca, Vicugna pacos', Small Ruminant Research, 175, pp. 90-95.

Waha, K., Van Wijk, M. T., Fritz, S., See, L., Thornton, P. K., Wichern, J. and Herrero, M. (2018) 'Agricultural diversification as an important strategy for achieving food security in Africa', Global change biology, 24(8), pp. 3390-3400.