Peste des petits ruminants (PPR)
PPR
Occurrence
Peste des petits ruminants is endemic in Africa, the Middle East, Central, Middle and East Asia. There are regular outbreaks in North Africa and Turkey. In Europe, the first case was reported in Bulgaria in June 2018. Cases were also reported in Croatia in late 2025 and early 2026 (see Situation in Europe).
Technical information
Peste des petits ruminants is an animal disease affecting small ruminants, namely sheep and goats. Goats usually suffer more severely than sheep, and a large proportion of the herd is often affected. Young animals are more severely affected by this disease than adult animals. However, other cloven-hoofed animals such as domestic cattle, buffalo and wild ruminants (e.g. deer, ibex, gazelles, antelopes) as well as dromedaries are also affected. Some of these cloven-hoofed animals rarely show symptoms of the disease (e.g. domestic cattle). Domestic cattle and buffalo do not shed the virus, although seroconversion does occur. Wild ruminants and dromedaries can shed the virus. In Mongolia, there was an outbreak of the disease in 2017 with high mortality among saiga antelopes. Experimental infection trials have shown that European pigs are susceptible to this virus, display clinical signs of the disease and are capable of transmitting the disease to small ruminants with which they come into contact.
Small ruminant peste is characterised, particularly in countries where it is occurring for the first time, by high morbidity and mortality rates (ranging from 90 to 100 per cent). It causes significant economic losses, as infected herds must be culled. Infected carcasses must be destroyed and, like raw milk products from infected animals, must not enter the market.
The causative agent of small ruminant peste is the Peste des Petits Ruminants virus (PPRV) or Small Ruminant Morbillivirus (SRMV), a paramyxovirus (genus Morbillivirus) that is genetically closely related to the causative agent of rinderpest, the Rinderpest Virus (RPV). Although there is antigenic similarity to RPV, PPRV can be clearly distinguished from it. The PPRV serotype is divided into four different genotypes (I–IV).
Distribution
Peste des petits ruminants is endemic in Africa, the Middle East, Central, Middle and East Asia. The PPRV lineage IV has most recently spread across Asia (e.g. China, Nepal, India, Pakistan) and Africa (from the north as far as Tanzania). There are outbreaks in Turkey every year (2005–2024). In Europe, the first occurrence was reported in Bulgaria in June 2018. In 2024, outbreaks were reported in Romania, Greece and Bulgaria, and in 2025 in Hungary, Romania, Albania and Kosovo. Cases were also reported in Croatia in late 2025 and early 2026 (as of February 2026).
Transmission
Transmission occurs mainly through close direct contact with infected animals or their excreta, but can also occur aerogenically via the respiratory tract. The virus can be shed before clinical symptoms become apparent. It is shed via tears, nasal and throat secretions, and faeces. The urine and saliva of goats also contain the virus. The virus has been detected in goat faeces for up to 2 months after recovery. Animals that have recovered from a PPR infection are immune both to re-infection and to other genotypes of the virus.
Scientific studies (outbreak in Bangladesh 2012–2015) have confirmed that PPRV can be transmitted via raw goat’s milk.
There is no vertical transmission of PPRV via the placenta.
Symptoms
Goats, sheep, cattle, pigs and wild ruminants are susceptible. Peste des petits ruminants (PPR) usually takes a more severe course in goats than in sheep and is fatal in 100% of goat kids (older than 4 months, who are no longer protected by maternal antibodies). In cattle and some wild ruminants, the virus causes a subclinical disease. High morbidity and variable mortality are typical of PPR. The overall mortality rate varies between 10 and 90 per cent.
The incubation period is 5–6 days; thereafter, from the 6th day onwards, a high fever is observed. A distinction can be made between a prodromal phase and an erosive phase.
The prodromal phase, which is characterised primarily by symptoms of generalised illness, can last for 3 days and may be accompanied by ulcerative-necrotising inflammation in the oral cavity and on the gums. Affected animals usually develop a high fever of between 40 and 41.5 °C. Other important clinical signs include anorexia, constipation, serous nasal and ocular discharge, severe diarrhoea and pneumonia. The watery nasal and ocular discharge causes crusts to form around the eyes and nostrils.
At the onset of the erosive phase, erosions, ulcers and necrosis develop in the oral mucosa. Erosions can sometimes be detected throughout the gastrointestinal tract (often with a striped ‘zebra-stripe’ pattern). Pneumonia also occurs occasionally. This is characterised by bronchointerstitial pneumonia with the presence of viral cytoplasmic inclusion bodies and syncytiums.
In highly susceptible animals, in addition to acute forms, peracute forms may occur, leading to death immediately after the prodromal phase. Conversely, there is also a chronic form, which is usually caused by low-virulence viruses. It causes lesions ranging from barely visible to highly pronounced nodular proliferations in the oral cavity.
In light of the outbreaks in south-eastern Europe in 2024, 2025 and 2026, laboratory diagnostic testing via differential diagnosis is indicated if the symptoms listed above occur; in cases of suspected infection, a sample should be submitted via the official veterinary officer. As the disease has never before occurred in Austria and the clinical picture is largely unknown, a diagnostic test to rule out the disease is also recommended even if only isolated symptom-like changes are observed in the herd.
Reports from European countries affected by PPR have also indicated subclinical courses in small ruminants.
Differential diagnoses: All erosive or vesicular skin and mucous membrane diseases in ruminants associated with severe impairment of general health, e.g. sheep and goat pox, lip rot, foot-and-mouth disease, blue tongue disease, contagious caprine pleuropneumonia, pasteurellosis, salmonellosis, coccidiosis
Preventive measures
Unauthorised persons, with the exception of the vet, should be prohibited from entering the barn. Pets (dogs, cats) must also be prevented from entering.
Strict hygiene and biosecurity measures apply to all persons entering the barn – these must be strictly observed.
As a precaution, animals from outside the herd whose health status is unknown should not be introduced into the herd immediately. A 3–4-week quarantine period, together with enquiries regarding any possible disease outbreaks in the herd of origin, can significantly reduce the risk of disease being introduced into the herd. The spread and transmission of PPR via animal movements in regions with unvaccinated animal populations played a major role in Turkey.
The FAO and the OIE are committed to eliminating the disease by 2030. There is currently no vaccine authorised in Europe to combat the disease. Attenuated live vaccines (e.g. based on the Nigeria-75/1 strain) are used outside Europe (e.g. in Turkey) in areas where the disease is endemic. At present, all newborn and unvaccinated adult small ruminants in Turkey are vaccinated annually. Seroconversion rates stood at 93% in 2018 and 84% in 2020.
Diagnostics
The virus can be detected early after infection in animals with a high fever and in animals with incipient mucosal lesions. Antibodies can be detected as early as 6 days after infection.
Samples from live animals:
- Swab samples of nasal, ocular and throat secretions (no bacteriological swab transport media)
- Blood (EDTA/heparin) and serum
Samples from dead animals:
- whole animal carcasses or organs such as
- lymph nodes (particularly mesenteric lymph nodes)
- spleen
- Lungs
- intestines
Sample transport and short-term storage at +4 °C
Detection methods:
- Direct viral detection: molecular biological methods, viral isolation
- Indirect virus detection (antibody detection): ELISA and serum neutralisation test
Contact
Institut für veterinärmedizinische Untersuchungen Mödling
- vetmed.moedling@ages.at
- +43 50 555 38112
-
Robert Koch-Gasse 17
2340 Mödling
Last updated: 24.06.2026
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