Peste des Petits Ruminants Virus, Tunisia, 2012–2013

infection of specific-pathogen-free pigs by a genotype 4 strain of human hepatitis E virus. To the Editor: Peste des petits ruminants (PPR) is a viral disease of sheep and goats caused by peste des petits ruminants virus (PPRV), a negative-sense, single-stranded RNA virus of the genus Morbilli-virus. Illness and death can be high (>90%) when PPR occurs in populations of immunologically naive sheep and goats (1). Mortality rates are ≈10%–40% in disease-endemic areas (2). Because of its economic effects and ability to spread rapidly, PPR has been included among reportable diseases by the World Organization for Animal Health. In the past 20 years, PPR has shown rapid spread throughout large areas of Africa and Asia (2). A unique serotype of PPRV circulates and is classified into 4 genetically distinct lineages (3). The geographic distribution of lineages I and II is restricted mainly to western and central Africa and that of lineage III to eastern Af-rica. Lineage IV is more widely distributed throughout eastern Africa (4,5), the Near and Middle East, and large areas of Asia (3). In 2008, PPR occurred in Mo-rocco, and 257 cases were reported in goats and sheep over a 6-month period (3). In 2011, PPR was officially reported in Algeria (3). Genetic analysis showed that PPRV strains isolated in Morocco and Algeria belonged to lin-eage IV (4–6). Although PPR has been reported in Tunisia since 2011 (7), no data are available on the molecular characterization of PPRV circulating in this country. During September 2012–Janu-ary 2013, clinical signs compatible with PPR in ovine and caprine flocks were reported to the Tunisian veterinary service. Ocular, nasal, oral, and rectal swab specimens were obtained from animals showing clinical signs of this disease. Swab specimens were sent to the Institute de la Recherche Vétérinaire de Tunisie in Tunis for laboratory confirmation. Total RNA from swab samples was extracted by using the NucleoSpin RNA Virus Kit (Macherey-Nagel, Düren, Germany) according to the manufacturer's instructions. The presence of the PPR viral RNA was determined in samples by using a specific reverse transcription PCR reported by Polci et al. (8). Laboratory tests confirmed circulation of PPRV in farms near Kairouan and Sidi Bouzid. Aliquots of RNA samples were shipped to the Istituto Zooprofilat-tico Sperimentale dell'Abruzzo e del Molise in Teramo, Italy, for genetic characterization. RNA was amplified by using the reverse transcription PCR reported by Couacy-Hymann et al. (9). Amplicons from virus-positive samples …