Phylogenetic analysis of peste des petits ruminants virus from outbreaks in Turkey during 2008–2012

Peste des petits ruminants (PPR) is an important viral disease of sheep and goats and is endemic in all regions of Turkey. In this study, PPR virus infection was investigated by RT-PCR assay based on the fusion (F) gene in PPR-suspected sheep and goat samples. PPR virus RNA was detected in 65 small ruminants (51 sheep, 14 goats) from independent outbreaks during 2008–2012 in provinces in the central and Mediterranean regions and the central-west part of the Aegean region in Turkey. The virus was detected in an aborted sheep fetus sample by RT-PCR, and diagnosis was also confirmed by virus isolation. Vaccine strain Nigeria 75/1 was differentiated from field isolates by restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis of RT-PCR products using EcoRI. Phylogenetic analysis of 16 viruses indicated that all viruses, including the one from the aborted sheep fetus, belonged to lineage IV, as had the PPR viruses previously isolated in Turkey. Nucleotide sequence identity among 16 viruses was 99.1%–100%. Results showed that PPR virus lineage IV has been in circulation in Turkey since the first detection of the disease.