Genomic Epidemiology
The disease was first described in 1942 in West Africa in goats and sheep. The first description of this virus in India was in 1987.
Classification in genotypes is based on the fusion (F) protein gene. There are four known lineages of PPR virus: lineage 1 and 2 viruses have been found exclusively in west Africa. Viruses of lineage 3 have are generally found in east Africa. The fourth lineage has more recently spread across the Middle East and the Asian sub-continent. Genotype 4 appears to be related to genotype 1.
The outbreak in Burkina Faso in 1999 was caused by the lineage 1 group. Genotype 3 has caused outbreaks in Ethiopia (1996) and also in Arabia, southern India and in Tamil Nadu (1992). This lineage was found in Yemen in 2001. Genotype 4 has been isolated from Kuwait in 1999.
Read more about this topic: Ovine Rinderpest