Risk of seroconversion to peste des petits ruminants (PPR) and its association with species, sex, age and migration

The present investigation included a detailed description of risk of PPR in small ruminants and its association with various host and environmental factors. A total of 432 serum samples comprising of 216 samples (108 sheep and 108 goats) from migratory and 216 samples (108 sheep and108 goats) from non-migratory flocks of sheep and goat were screened for PPR antibodies using competitive-ELISA. The overall seroprevalence of PPR in migratory flocks (33.79%) was significantly (p < 0.05) higher as compared to non-migratory flocks (24.07%). The seroprevalence of PPR in sheep (29.16%) was higher than that of goat (28.70%) but the difference was non-significant, age wise seroprevalence was significantly (p < 0.05) higher in >12 months age group (39.58%) followed by 8-12 months (26.38%) and 4-8 months (20.83%) age group. On risk factor analysis, it was observed that at 95% confidence interval, odd ratio was higher in migratory (1.610) than non-migratory (0.612) flocks, in sheep (1.023) than goats (0.978), the value of odd ratio was higher in >12 months age group (2.490 and 1.828) as compared to 4-8 months and 8-12 months, respectively. The overall sex wise seroprevalence in males (33.33%) was significantly (p < 0.05) higher than in females (24.53%) and also risk factor analysis revealed a higher odd ratio in males (1.538, overall; 1.581, migratory and 1.503, non-migratory) than in females (0.650, overall; 0.633, migratory and 0.655 non-migratory). The present study relates the variation of PPR risk in association with species, age, sex, sheep and goat husbandry practices.