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Morbillivirus infections of ruminants: the nearly eradicated rinderpest and the "peste des petits ruminants", an expanding disease in the South and a threat for Europe Volume 13, issue 2, mars-avril 2009

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Authors
UMR Cirad/Inra, Contrôles des maladies, 34398 Montpellier, France, Animal Production Unit, FAO/IAEA Agriculture and Biotechnology Laboratory, Agency’s Laboratories, Wagramerstrasse 5, P.O. Box 100, A-1400 Vienne, Autriche

Rinderpest (RP) and peste des petits ruminants (PPR) are contagious viral diseases of domestic and wild ruminants producing high mortality. They are caused by viruses belonging to the Morbillivirus genus, Paramyxoviridae family. Control tools (vaccines and specific diagnostic tests) exist for these two diseases. They have been successfully used during the global rinderpest eradication programme (GREP) and the disease is expected to be eradicated by 2010. In contrast, a similar programme does not exist for PPR, which is still spreading in Africa and Asia. The persistence of PPR in Turkey and its recent introduction in Morocco, make the disease a real threat for Europe. Improvement of control measures against PPR would benefit from the development of a marker vaccine and its companion serological test, thus allowing the differentiation between infected and vaccinated animals (DIVA vaccines and tests). The recent development of reverse genetics for morbilliviruses offers this new possibility.