Sample collection
Sampling was conducted between 2017 and 2018 in 18 states in total
(Figure 1 and Table S1 in supplementary materials). Veterinarians of
national veterinary services conducted the field studies in accordance
with local legislation, approval (AEC/02/87/20) was provided by the NVRI
Animal Ethics Committee. Still, the tissues used in the study were
sourced ethically. In one major market per state, goats and sheep
suspected of acute PPR infection were identified based on clinical
symptoms that included fever over 40 °C, weight loss, ocular, nasal, or
ocular-nasal discharge and diarrhoea. The suspected animals were bought
from their owners, euthanized humanely, and subjected to an autopsy to
collect tissue samples (lungs and mesenteric lymph nodes). In addition,
samples were collected in slaughter houses located near the market from
carcasses showing visible symptoms of diarrhoea and oculo-nasal
discharges on their carcasses. The samples are then quickly transported
to the PPR laboratory of the National Veterinary Research Institute,
Vom, Nigeria and placed in a freezer at -70 °C before visiting another
new state. The samples were then subsequently shipped to CIRAD,
Montpellier, France for further analysis in a Biosafety level-3
laboratory facility.