Tissue Distribution and Relative Quantitation of Experimental Infection with Peste Des Petits Ruminant Virus in Goats Using Real-Time PCR (TaqMan )

Peste des Petits Ruminants (PPR) is an acute, highly contagious and economically important viral disease of small ruminants, especially goats and sheep. Given the contagious nature of the disease, speed of diagnosis is essential in order to quarantine infected animals and initiate appropriate prophylactic measures. Here researchers reported the distribution of PPRV RNA in various tissues of goats experimentally infected subcutaneously with a vaccine virus (Nigeria 75/1) strain in relation to the time post inoculation (pi) by real-time PCR (rt RT-PCR) based on TaqMan and was quantified as a fold change (2-ΔΔCt values) compared with that of blood at 3 dpi. PPRV levels at 3, 5 and 28 dpi were higher than those at the other time points, especially at 5 dpi. The PPRV level in thymus, tonsil, hilar lymph node and turbinate bone was higher than that of other tissues. The result suggested that the distribution of PPRV in goats were similar to that of viral antigens and rt RT-PCR was useful for the detection of PPRV in field samples. The higher levels of RNA detected at 28 dpi may suggest some level of persistent infection. Furthermore, it was shown that blood sample was the most valuable diagnostic material for use in an epidemic situation.