Pathological and molecular investigation of Peste des Petits Ruminants outbreak in goats of Nagpur district, India

Present study reports on transportation stress aspect for an outbreak of PPR in goats of Nagpur district of Maharashtra. Detailed post-mortem examination of goats was conducted having history of transportation and clinical symptoms suspected of PPR. Characteristic erosive ulcerative lesions in mouth, inflammatory lesions in respiratory tract, haemorrhagic lesions in gastrointestinal tract and enlargement of mesenteric lymph nodes were noticed. Lung and spleen tissue samples were used for RT-PCR assay by targeting M and N gene which depicted the product size of 124bp and 351 bp respectively. It can be concluded that the RT-PCR assay targeting M and N gene is rapid, sensitive and specific technique as compared to other conventional methods. Further, transportation stress might have predisposed the flock to PPRV infection.