Pathomorphology and molecular detection of Peste des petits ruminants (PPR) in natural outbreak in goat kids

Peste des petits ruminants (PPR) affected goat kids showed clinical signs of pyrexia, congested mucous membrane, profuse diarrhea, bilateral mucopurulent nasal discharge, erosive stomatitis and glossitis with halitosis. On necropsy, erosions to ulcer on the nasal openings, frothy exudate in the tracheal lumen with severe consolidation and red hepatisation of cranial and diaphragmatic lobes were observed. Histopathologically, hyperkeratosis with irregular breakage in the nasal epithelium of nasal opening and tracheitis with deciliation, infiltration of lamina propria by mononuclear cells and submucosal hemorrhages and congestion were recorded. Lungs showed severe acute bronchointerstitial pneumonia with severe neutrophilic infiltration, collapsed bronchi and bronchiolar lumen filled with debris of desquamated bronchial epithelial cells, degenerated and non-degenerated neutrophils, syncytial formation with multinucleated cells containing intranuclear and intracytoplasmic eosinophilic inclusion bodies. Reverse transcriptase PCR and sequence analyses of partial N gene confirmed the etiological agent as PPR virus lineage IV.