Molecular characterization of peste-des-petits ruminants virus (PPRV) isolated from an outbreak in the Indo-Bangladesh border of Tripura state of North-East India

•First confirmed outbreak of lineage IV PPR virus occurred at Tripura, a state in North East India.•A close sequence homology of 98.0-99.6% observed with Bangladeshi PPR strains.•Transboundary circulation of PPRV in this region is suggested.•Immediate vaccination at the international border of Tripura state is recommended.

Peste-des-petits- ruminants (PPR) is a highly contagious and devastating disease of goats and sheep. Although India is endemic for PPR, Tripura, a state in North East India has never been reported confirmed PPR outbreaks. Recently, an outbreak of PPR occurred in non-descript goats at the Sabroom town of Tripura state in North-East India in June, 2013. The causative agent, PPR virus (PPRV) was confirmed by sandwich ELISA, virus isolation and N gene based RT-PCR and sequencing. The sequence and phylogenetic analysis confirmed the involvement of lineage IV PPR virus in the outbreak. The outbreak viruses from Tripura state were clustered mainly with circulating viruses from Bangladesh, India, China, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Dubai and Kurdistan. However, the nucleotide sequence homology ranged from 99.2 to 99.6% with the PPR strains circulating in Bangladesh during 2011 and 2012 whereas 95.5-98% homology has been observed with the viruses from India and other countries. These findings suggest the transboundary circulation of PPR virus between India and Bangladesh border, which warrant immediate vaccination across the international border to create an immune belt.