Dual Infection of Sheep Aborted Foetus with Peste des Petits Ruminants Virus and Brucella melitensis

In this study, we investigated the potential roles of Brucella melitensis and PPR virus (PPRV) infections in a case of sheep abortion. Samples were collected from PPR-suspected ewe and its aborted foetus from a sheep flock in the Antalya Province in the Mediterranean region of Turkey in 2016. The presence of Brucella spp. directly assessed by bacterial isolation and detection of PPRV was carried by real time RT-PCR. Genetic characterization of the PPRV field isolates was conducted by sequencing the fusion (F) gene of PPRV. Brucella strain was isolated from the samples of aborted sheep foetus, and it was identified as Brucella melitensis by biochemical characteristics, agglutination with monospecific A and M sera. PPRV RNA was detected in samples of PPR-suspected ewe and its foetus. Phylogenetic analysis showed that the field isolate of PPRV obtained in this study was clustered within lineage IV. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report on the dual infection of aborted sheep foetus with PPRV and Brucella melitensis.