1Department of Animal Biotechnology, Madras Veterinary College, Chennai-600007, India.
2Head, Division of Virology, Indian Veterinary Research Institute, Muktheswar-263138, India
3Department of Cell and Microbiology, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, India.
Abstracts of the papers presented at the International Conference of Indian Virological Society on “Emerging and Re-emerging viral Diseases of the Tropics and Subtropics” at Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi, India, December 11–14, 2007.
Molecular Epidemiology is a science that focuses on the contribution of potential genetic and environmental risk factors, identified at the molecular level, to the etiology, distribution and prevention of diseases with in families and across populations. Peste des petits ruminants (PPR) is a highly contagious viral disease affecting sheep and goats caused by PPR virus (PPRV). Molecular epidemiology of Fusion (F) protein gene of PPRV revealed four distinct lineages. All the PPRV isolated from India group under lineage 4, except one virus that was isolated from Southern India in 1992. Molecular epidemiology of the nucleoprotein (N) gene of Indian PPRV revealed at least two major groups, with the Nigerian PPRV having a distinct lineage. There was extensive variability of the 3’ end of the ‘N’ gene of PPRV strains in India. When an isolate of PPRV, was passaged in cell culture (lamb kidney or Vero cells), the 3’ end of the deduced amino acid sequence of the ‘N’ protein retained only 85% homology to the original isolate.
