Ovine Rinderpest

Ovine rinderpest, also commonly known as peste des petits ruminants (PPR), is a contagious disease affecting goats and sheep in Africa (from the Tropic of Cancer to the Equator), the Middle-East and the Indian subcontinent. But since June 2008, the disease invaded Morocco, which indicates a crossing of the natural barrier of the Sahara. It is caused by a species of the Morbillivirus genus of viruses. The disease is highly contagious, and has roughly an 80 percent mortality rate in acute cases.