Emergence of Peste des Petits Ruminants in Sheep and Goats in Eastern Saudi Arabia

By early April 2002, a severe outbreak of a disease was reported in sheep and goats in Al-Hasa province, Hofuf township (lat. 25o N, long. 47o E) of the eastern region of Saudi Arabia. The involved flock was composed of 70 adult sheep and goats. The onset of the disease was sudden. The clinical manifestations were high fever (41oC), lachrymation, nasal discharge, salivation, profuse diarrhea, followed by recumbency and death. The course of the disease in the affected animals took three to four days. Thirty out of seventy animals in the herd were affected (43% morbidity rate). The case mortality rate was 100%. A virus was isolated in Vero cell culture and was reacted in cross virus neutralization tests, using reference hyperimmune sera against peste des petits ruminants (PPR) and rinderpest virus. The virus was eventually identified as the PPR virus. The epidemiology of the disease in Saudi Arabia and the Arabian peninsula is discussed.