Outbreaks of Peste des petits ruminants in two different localities in Sudan

This report describes the details of outbreaks of Peste des petits ruminants (PPR) which occurred during 2008 in Khartoum and River Nile States in Sudan. An outbreak was reported in a sheep flock at the southern part of the State (Soba) in Khartoum, with 100% morbidity and mortality rates. In ElDamer city at River Nile State, the morbidity rate was 31.4% while mortality rate was 17.1% in the total animal population of 3,500. PPR antigen was detected in seven samples from both outbreaks using immunocapture enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (IcELISA). The PPR ELISA results were confirmed by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). Using cELISA, only one serum was sent from Khartoum and 6 out of 13 sera from ElDamer were positive for PPR antibodies. Key words: Peste des petits ruminants (PPR), outbreaks, sheep, Sudan.