CLINICO-PATHOLOGICAL FINDINGS IN WEST AFRICAN DWARF GOATS

The clinical signs and pathological changes in West African dwarf goats naturally infected with peste des petits ruminants (PPR) were studied. Twenty one goats were housed in one pen throughout the duration of the study. One out of 21 goats was purchased with clinical manifestations suggestive of PPR and the goat served as the source of natural infection to the rest of the goats. By day 3 post aggregation of the animals, 5 out of the 21 goats showed clinical signs of PPR which include coughing, sneezing, pyrexia, starry hair coat, mucopurulent ocular and nasal discharges, watery diarrhea, head pressing, kyphosis and dehydration. By day 5 post aggregation all the goats had come down with the disease. Gross pathological findings included zebra stripes on the cecal mucosa, exudative pleurisy in the thoracic cavity, ecchymotic hemorrhages on the trachea with extensive froth, consolidation and congestion of the lungs. New findings of degenerative fatty liquefaction around the coronary region of the heart and within the ventricles, including ante-mortem clots within the ventricles were made in some cases. These manifestations were observed in varying degrees of severity in the goats and can be considered pathognomonic of PPR infection