Ovine rinderpest Ovine rinderpest Ovine rinderpest, also commonly known as peste des petits ruminants (PPR), is a contagious disease primarily affecting goats and sheep; however, camels and wild small ruminants can also be affected. PPR is currently present in North, Central, West and East Africa, the Middle East, and South Asia. It is caused by "small ruminants morbillivirus" in the genus "Morbillivirus," and is closely related to, among others," rinderpest morbillivirus, measles morbillivirus", and "canine morbillivirus" (previously known as canine distemper virus). The disease is highly contagious, and can have a 80–100% mortality rate in acute cases in an epidemic setting. This
Ovine rinderpest gene. Lineages I and II are found mainly in West Africa. Lineage III is generally found in East Africa. Lineage IV was long known as the Asian lineage, but has now spread to the African continent and become the most prevalent lineage of all. This virus appears to have evolved at the start of the 20th century in Nigeria. The extant genotypes subsequently appeared in West Africa (lineages I and II), East Africa and Arabia (lineage III), and Pakistan–India (lineage IV). The first description of the disease was published in 1942 and relates to an outbreak in Côte d’Ivoire, West