The Clinicopathological Evaluations of the Efficacy of Incorporation of Amantadine Hydrochloride in the Treatment of West African Dwarf Goats Experimentally Infected with Peste des Petits Ruminants Virus

Peste des petits ruminants poses a major threat to the development of small ruminant production. The objective of this study was to determine the comparative efficacy of amantadine hydrochloride (HCl), oxytetracycline long acting (LA) and levamisole in West African dwarf (WAD) goats experimentally infected with PPR. In addition to the presence of the characteristic clinical signs, complement ELISA and haem agglutination inhibition (HI) tests were used to confirm PPR infection in the West African dwarf goats, then treatment was instituted in the different groups namely, group 1 which was treated with amantadine HCl orally, oxytetracycline LA intramuscularly (IM) and levamisole per os. Group 2 was treated with oxytetracycline LA IM and levamisole. Group 3 was treated with levamisole while group 4 served as untreated control. The physiological parameters namely rectal temperature, pulse rate and respiratory rates of the different groups were recorded. The mortality rates in the different treatment groups were also recorded. The respiratory rates of the WAD goats increased as the infection progressed, but the increase was not significant (P>0.05). The treatment helped reduce the respiratory rates in the treated WAD. The rectal temperatures of all the animals in the different treatment groups increased only slightly as the infection progressed and was not significant (P>0.05). The percentage mortalities were 0% in Group 1, 25% in the Group 2, 50% in the treated group 3 and highest (75%) in the untreated group respectively. In conclusion, incorporation of specific antiviral agents like amantadine hydrochloride in the treatment regimen with oxytetracycline and levamisole particularly during the early stages of the infection can reduce morbidity and mortality of the disease to the barest minimum.