Integrating Epidemiology, Immunology, and Host Genetics for Controlling Peste des Petits Ruminants in Goats
TL;DR
Sustainable control of PPR in goats will require integrated strategies combining mass vaccination, surveillance, improved husbandry, and host-focused immunogenomic research to strengthen herd resilience and accelerate progress toward global eradication.
Abstract
Peste des petits ruminants (PPR) is a highly contagious transboundary viral disease of sheep and goats that causes major economic losses and livelihood disruption across Africa, the Middle East, and Asia. Goats are often more severely affected than sheep, particularly in endemic smallholder systems, where high turnover, nutritional stress, and limited veterinary infrastructure sustain viral transmission. Despite effective live attenuated vaccines and the ongoing FAO–WOAH Global Eradication Programme, PPR remains widely distributed, indicating that vaccination alone is insufficient without understanding of host, viral, and environmental determinants of disease persistence. This review synthesizes current knowledge on three interrelated pillars of PPR prevention and control in goats: epidemiology, immunology, and host genetics. We summarize the epidemiological drivers of PPR transmission and how these factors shape disease burden in endemic settings. We review the immunobiology of PPR virus (PPRV) infection and vaccination, focusing on innate antiviral sensing, adaptive immune protection, virus-induced immunosuppression, and field determinants of vaccine performance. Finally, we examine the emerging evidence for host genetic resilience to PPR, with emphasis on immunogenomic and transcriptomic findings and the relevance of indigenous breeds such as the Black Bengal goat as genomic resources. Current evidence suggests that genetic resilience to PPR is likely polygenic and remains insufficiently characterized, though genomic and transcriptomic tools offer opportunities to identify markers of reduced susceptibility, milder disease, or improved vaccine response. Sustainable control of PPR in goats will require integrated strategies combining mass vaccination, surveillance, improved husbandry, and host-focused immunogenomic research to strengthen herd resilience and accelerate progress toward global eradication.