Environmental sampling for the detection of capripox viruses and peste des petits ruminants virus in households and livestock markets in Northern Nigeria

Multiple transboundary animal diseases (TADs) circulate in Northern Nigeria, where livestock keeping is a common practice and contributes to both physical and socioeconomic wellbeing of a large proportion of the population. Environmental samples, collected on a monthly basis from five households, one transhumance site and one livestock market in Northern Nigeria between March and October 2021 were tested using real-time PCR for the presence of common TADs in the region. Of the samples tested 2.4% of samples (n=11) were positive for peste de petit ruminants virus (PPRV) RNA and 1.3% of samples (n=6) were positive for capripox virus DNA. A capripox differentiation assay showed that these samples were positive for sheep pox virus (SPPV) (n=2), goat pox virus (GTPV) (n=2) and lumpy skin disease virus (LSDV) (n=2). The results of this study demonstrate that environmental sampling is a valuable approach to TAD surveillance in areas with limited veterinary resources. Collection of environmental swabs requires little technical knowledge, enabling widespread application of this sampling method. The detection of multiple viruses from a single set of samples highlights the effective nature of environmental sampling in determining the presence of TADs within a region.