Sero-prevalence study to determine the effectiveness of Peste de Petits Ruminants vaccination in Somalia

Peste de Petits Ruminants (PPR) is an acute or sub-acute highly contagious viral disease of small ruminants caused by morbillivirus and associated with high mortality and morbidity rates in naïve populations, colossal economic losses, reduced production and productivity as well as high control costs. Sero-surveys conducted in Somalia between 2006 and 2009 revealed sero-prevalence of 6.5% in north-western Somalia, 28.7% in north-eastern Somalia, 32.6% in central Somalia and 37.6% in southern Somalia. Somalia, like other countries in conflict, has limited capacity to control PPR. In this regard, Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) conducted country-wide PPR vaccination campaigns covering the five zones of Somalia, namely, Banadir, central, north-eastern, north-western and southern using a public-private partnership approach. Approximately 20 million sheep and goats constituting 60% of the estimated Somalia national small ruminant population were targeted for vaccination in entire Somalia in 2012. Data on vaccination was captured using FAO’s Form Monitoring Tool (FMT) software. The overall unit cost of PPR vaccination was estimated to be USD 0.28 per animal. Two serological surveys were conducted before and after the vaccination campaigns where a two-stage cluster sampling methodology was used to collect sera samples for analysis. The results showed an overall increase in individual animal sero-prevalence from 62 to 76% after PPR vaccination campaign. This paper primarily focuses on practicality of PPR control in Somalia, a conflict-affected and fragile zone, which can be adopted by other countries.