[Epidemiology of rinderpest and cattle plague in Mali: serological surveys].

Within the epidemiological surveillance of rinderpest in Mali a serological survey has been carried out on 58 herds of small ruminants. Out of 567 tested sera for the detection of antibodies against rinderpest 2 were positive. These sera were collected from two animals over 6 years old, probably infected during the last outbreak of rinderpest in Mali in 1986. Therefore, it can be assumed that the rinderpest virus has not circulated in Mali since that year. However, the infection rate among goats and sheep due to the PPR virus seemed to be high: 74% of herds had already been infected. The prevalence of individual infection is 32%. A similar serological survey was conducted on 450 cattleheads, without antibodies against the rinderpest virus and showed that 1.78% of these animals had been in contact with the PPR virus. With such a low infection rate in cattle, the PPR virus probably has no incidence in the epidemiology of rinderpest in Mali.