Peste Des Petits Ruminants (PPR): Progress and Efforts Toward 2030 Eradication

A special issue of Viruses (ISSN 1999-4915). This special issue belongs to the section "Animal Viruses".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 November 2025 | Viewed by 179

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), Viale delle Terme di Caracalla, 00153 Rome, Italy
Interests: peste des petits ruminants; animal health; disease control/eradication; small ruminant production; epidemiology; socio-economic impact and wildlife
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

In April 2015, the FAO and WOAH International Conference for the Control and Eradication of Peste des Petits Ruminants, held in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, approved the PPR Global Control and Eradication Strategy (PPR GCES) [1], with the aim of achieving PPR global eradication by 2030. The PPR GCES was operationalized via the first five-year PPR Global Eradication Programme (PPR GEP) (2017–2021) [2], which laid the foundation for implementing the strategy. The progress made, lessons learnt, and experience of partners in the first five years of the operational phase were reviewed and subsequently informed the development of the operational guide, (the Blueprint for PPR eradication by 2030, or PPR GEP II and III [3]) that was launched on 4th November 2022. The success of the PPR GEP Blueprint implementation will depend in part on innovative research that will support the implementation of PPR eradication activities up until 2030.

The PPR Global Research and Expertise Network (PPR-GREN) was established in 2018 as a forum for scientific and technical consultation to foster information sharing, coordination, and collaboration for researchers and implementers in support of PPR eradication. The role of experts in PPR GREN is to identify key knowledge gaps and research priorities for PPR eradication and ensure that new research informs an evidence-based and adaptive GEP. The GREN is divided into four thematic groups, namely vaccination strategy (diagnosis, surveillance, and vaccine implementation), episystem, socioeconomics, and atypical including wildlife.

Therefore, this PPR Special Issue invites manuscripts (research/reviews/policy) from all thematic groups, especially those recently presented in the 7th PPR GREN meeting at ADAFSA, Abu Dhabi.

[1] PPR Global Control and Eradication Strategy: https://openknowledge.fao.org/handle/20.500.14283/I4460E (accessed on 4th Jan 2025);

[2] PPR Global Eradication Programme: https://openknowledge.fao.org/handle/20.500.14283/CA0711EN (accessed on 4th Jan 2025);

[3] Blueprint for PPR eradication by 2030: https://openknowledge.fao.org/items/09062427-dd62-4fdc-8ec7-ef6b76402f92 (accessed on 4th Jan 2025).

Prof. Dr. Satya Parida
Dr. Felix Njeumi
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • peste des petits ruminants virus (PPRV)
  • PPR
  • PPR in sheep, goats, cattle, buffaloes, and wildlife
  • PPR vaccination strategy
  • diagnosis
  • surveillance
  • epidemiology
  • episystem
  • socioeconomics
  • transmission
  • pathogenesis
  • atypical hosts and wildlife hosts

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

13 pages, 1203 KiB  
Article
Peste des Petits Ruminants Vaccine: Criteria for Assessing Its Thermotolerance
by Charles S. Bodjo, Hassen Belay Gelaw, Zione D. Luhanga, Yebechaye Degefa Tessema, Jean-De-Dieu Baziki, Cisse R. Moustapha Boukary, Gelagay Ayelet Melesse, Ethel Chitsungo, Nick Nwankpa, Simon Kihu, Felix Njeumi, Satya Parida and Adama Diallo
Viruses 2025, 17(9), 1151; https://doi.org/10.3390/v17091151 - 22 Aug 2025
Abstract
The Peste des Petits Ruminants (PPR) live attenuated vaccines, the PPR virus (PPRV) Nigeria 75/1 strain (lineage II) and PPRV India Sungry 96 strain (lineage IV), currently used for control and eradication programme are very efficient vaccines as they provide the host, sheep [...] Read more.
The Peste des Petits Ruminants (PPR) live attenuated vaccines, the PPR virus (PPRV) Nigeria 75/1 strain (lineage II) and PPRV India Sungry 96 strain (lineage IV), currently used for control and eradication programme are very efficient vaccines as they provide the host, sheep and goats, a lifelong immunity after a single minimum recommended dose of 102.5 TCID50/mL. Unfortunately, both live attenuated vaccines are thermolabile and their use requires maintaining the cold chain from the manufactory premises to the field as most PPR-infected regions are facing of hot climate, with poor infrastructure, and the maintenance of an effective cold chain remains a challenge. To address this challenge, efforts have focused on developing thermotolerant (ThT) PPR vaccines using different stabilisers and improving the freeze-drying process. This study aimed to define the criteria for the evaluation of the stability of ThT PPR vaccines. A total of 37 batches of freeze-dried PPR vaccines using the PPRV Nigeria 75/1 strain, including eight (8) and twenty-nine (29) vaccines labelled as ThT and conventional formulations, respectively, were tested to evaluate the stability at temperatures of 40 °C to simulate the field conditions in some hot climate regions. All the vaccine batches included in this study initially showed acceptable levels of residual moisture, below 3%, and titres above the minimum WOAH standard requirement of 102.5 TCID50/mL. Following the incubation at 40 °C, 56.7% and 46% of the 37 vaccine batches tested retained titres above 102.5 TCID50/mL on day 3 and day 5, respectively. These vaccines use stabilisers such as skimmed milk, lactalbumin–sucrose, trehalose and one unnamed product (which may be protected for patent). The mean of titre loss among the PPR vaccines maintaining titres above 102.5 TCID50/mL was 0.78 log10 at day 3 and 0.99 log10 at day 5, suggesting a significant early degradation during the first 3 days. Based on these data, it is proposed that thermotolerant PPR vaccines should maintain a minimum titre of 102.5 TCID50/mL for vaccine dose on day 5 post-incubation at 40 °C with a titre loss below 1 log10 per mL. Preliminary immunogenicity test results showed that the PPR ThT vaccine meeting this criterion could be used in the field without maintaining a cold chain for up to 3 weeks, offering a practical solution for vaccination in remote areas. Full article
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