The paper has reported a cross-sectional sample survey conducted across six villages severely affected by peste des petits ruminants disease to assess the nature and extent of loss in small ruminants. The study is based on the data pertaining to disease incidence, production losses, costs incurred and impact on farm productivity collected though personal interview method. The incidence and mortality rate have been found slightly higher in sheep than goats. The total losses due to disease have been found to range between Rs 918 in sheep to Rs 945 in goats. Reduction in the market value of animals has been recorded as the major loss component as appearance of the animal changes drastically after the illness, costing Rs. 404 (44%) in sheep and Rs 408 (43%) in goat. It is followed by losses in production yield. Expenditure on medicine and infertility has been found to cause more than 80 per cent of the total cost, followed by veterinary and labour services. The study has suggested that timely vaccination could be the best and low-cost preventive measure to control such deadly disease outbreaks.Agricultural and Food Policy,

Sinha, Mukesh Kumar

Thombare, N.N.

English

Research Papers in Economics

Agricultural Economics Research Review
Vol. 22   July-December 2009   pp 319-322
* Author for correspondence,
Email: nandkumar2006@gmail.com
1 This paper is a part of the output from the M.V.Sc. thesis
entitled, “Evaluation of economic losses due to livestock
disease in Pune district of Maharastra”, submitted by the
first author under the guidance of the second author to
Indian Veterinary Research Institute (IVRI), Izatnagar,
Bareilly, in 2007.
Economic Implications of Peste des petits ruminants (PPR) Disease in
Sheep and Goats: A Sample Analysis of District Pune, Maharastra1
N.N. Thombarea* and Mukesh Kumar Sinhab
aLivestock Economics and Statistics Division, Indian Veterinary Research Institute, Izatnagar - 243 122, Uttar Pradesh
bDirectorate of Water Management, Chandrasekharpur, Bhubaneswar-751 023, Orissa
Abstract
The paper has reported a cross-sectional sample survey conducted across six villages severely affected
by peste des petits ruminants disease to assess the nature and extent of loss in small ruminants. The study
is based on the data pertaining to disease incidence, production losses, costs incurred and impact on farm
productivity collected though personal interview method. The incidence and mortality rate have been
found slightly higher in sheep than goats. The total losses due to disease have been found to range between
Rs 918 in sheep to Rs 945 in goats. Reduction in the market value of animals has been recorded as the
major loss component as appearance of the animal changes drastically after the illness, costing Rs. 404
(44 %) in sheep and Rs 408 (43%) in goat. It is followed by losses in production yield. Expenditure on
medicine and infertility has been found to cause more than 80 per cent of the total cost, followed by
veterinary and labour services. The study has suggested that timely vaccination could be the best and
low-cost preventive measure to control such deadly disease outbreaks.
Introduction
Peste des petits ruminants (PPR) is an acute
febrile viral disease of small ruminants, characterized
by mucopurulent nasal and ocular discharges,
necrotising and erosive stomatitis, enteritis and
pneumonia (Singh et al., 2004). The disease is endemic
in India and causes major economic losses due to the
high rates of mortality and morbidity in infected domestic
animals of sheep and goats. It causes death in more
than 50 per cent of the affected animals due to high
fever, pneumonia, diarrhoea and dehydration. Several
outbreaks have been reported regularly from almost
all states, including Maharastra, which is one of the
major sheep and goat rearing states in India. Maharastra
has 10.68 million goat and 3.07 million sheep population
(Census, 2003), mainly reared by small and marginal
farmers. These small domestic animals are the
important source of family income and are known as
the ‘moving banks’ of shepherds. However, this income
is often reduced by various infectious diseases, including
peste des petits ruminants. Hence, the estimation of
economic implications, carried out in this paper, is
important not only for a description of the actual
situation, but also for how much and to what extent the
losses can be avoided and risk of disease can be
diminished.
Material and Methods
The study was conducted in the Pune district of
Maharastra, where maximum outbreaks and deaths
were reported during 2005-06 (DIS, Maharastra, 2007).
Complete enumeration of villages in Baramati and
Daund block, where outbreaks were reported, was
made. A cross-sectional survey of sheep and goat
producers was done to assess the nature, extent and
impact of disease across randomly selected six villages.
To study the nature of disease in different spatial
Research Note320 Agricultural Economics Research Review    Vol.22   July-December  2009
locations, ten farmers each from the selected villages
were contacted for the study. Thus, a total of sixty farm
households constituted the sample from whom the data
were collected for analysis. A questionnaire was used
to collect information on flock size and structure,
sources of income and costs, disease outbreaks and
impacts on farm productivity. Further, data on movement
of the animals and farm products, persons employed in
the farm, feeding and watering habits, and source of
grazing were also collected. The collected data were
tabulated, classified and further categorized for
systematic and suitable statistical analysis.
Result and Discussions
Social Attributes of Respondents
The farm animals in the study area are mainly
managed by nomadic tribes, who have wandering
traditions, in the absence of any means of survival and
lack of education to fit into the settled society. They
are left away from the mainstream and fossilized in
poverty, superstition and ignorance. They have remained
backward economically and socially. They manage and
graze their own animals as well as farmer’s farm
animals of other villagers on payment (wage) basis. It
was found that 96.66 percent of sheep and goat farmers
belonged to this community, as it is the lineal occupation
of Dhangar caste in the state. No specific housing
system was available for sheep and goat and grazing
on public lands was the common practice among 95
per cent households. It was also noted that the majority
of respondents were illiterate (76.67 per cent), followed
by some 22 per cent) with primary level education.
Status of Peste des petits  ruminants Disease
Regular outbreaks of peste des petits ruminants
were reported in the state and the incidence and death
cases were increasing day-by-day. Information on the
outbreak, attack and death of animal during the past
five years has been presented in Table 1. In 2005-06,
heavy loss in the form of animal death was recorded
and over 95 per cent loss was in the Pune districted of
the state. This was the main reason to select this area
for study.
Incidence Rate: It is the number of new cases of a
disease occurring in a specified population, divided by
the average number of individuals in that population
during that specified time period. It is a way of
measuring the risk that a susceptible individual in a
population has chances of contracting a disease during
the period.
It could be observed from Table 2 that infection
rate was slightly higher in sheep (52.99%) than goat
(51.47%). Since high severity of the disease was
reported for the first time in the study area, all sheep
and goats were vaccinated only after the outbreak of
disease.
Table 1. Status of Peste des petits ruminants disease
outbreak in Maharastra
Year Number of
Outbreaks Attacks Deaths
2001-02 9 372 140
2002-03 23 1192 332
2003-04 35 1065 167
2004-05 14 602 349
2005-06 28 19367 4515
Pune district 12 18389 4303
Source: Surveillance Report (2007), Western Regional
Disease Investigation Section, Pune, Maharashtra
Table 2. Incidence rate of PPR in sheep and goat
Species Animal Total Infection
infected animals rate, %
in the farm in the farm
Sheep Total 3187 6014
Average 55.91 105.51 52.99
Goat Total 175 340
Average 6.73 13.08 51.47
Mortality Rates: It measures the proportion of
animals dying in a population. The mortality rate due to
peste des petits ruminants disease was found to be
13.50 per cent in sheep and 8.53 per cent in goat (Table
3). Mortality rate was high due to delay in diagnosis of
disease and insufficient veterinary services and
availability of doctors during the outbreak period, as
revealed by the respondents. The incidence of mortality
as reported by Hossain et al. (1996), was much higher
at 46 per cent in Bangladesh.Thombare & Sinha : Implications of Peste des petis Ruminants Diseaes in Sheep and Goats 321
Losses due to Peste des petits ruminants Disease
For estimating the production losses due to disease,
average meat price, weight reduction during the
outbreak, number of days of illness, reduction in the
market value, reduced price due to abortion and
reduction in the quality of wool/hairs were analyzed.
Loss due to the production yield was estimated by
multiplying the reduction in weight (chevan and
mutton) during the outbreak by the average price of
the chevan and mutton.
The total loss due to the disease was worked out
to be of Rs 918 in sheep and of Rs 945 in goats (Table
4). The major part of the loss was due to the reduction
in the market value of the animal after the disease both
in the case of sheep (Rs 404) and goat (Rs 408). It was
because the appearance of the animal changed
drastically after the illness. The next major part of loss
was due to the reduction in the production caused by
the disease in both sheep and goats. In loss due to low
production yield was of Rs 323 in sheep and of Rs 339
in goats, which is around 35 per cent of the total value,
followed by the reduced price due abortion in sheep
and goat, which was found to be around 20 per cent.
Treatment Expenditure in Peste des petits
ruminants Disease
To find out the costs of treatment, number of
animals infected, number of days remained infected,
cost on medicine, additional labour, veterinary services,
disinfectant and infertility were estimated. It could be
seen from Table 5 that the major portion of cost was
on the medicines, followed by infertility charges in
both sheep and goats. These two factors alone had
caused more than 82 per cent of the cost in both sheep
and goats. The cost on medicine was Rs 85 in sheep
and Rs 80 in goats. Next to medicine, the infertility
charges were found out to be major cost item in both
sheep (Rs 52) and goats (Rs 47). The charges on
veterinary services, labour, and disinfectant were low
and ranged from 3 per cent to 5 per cent. The total cost
incurred to treat peste-des-petits ruminants disease was
found to be Rs 162 in sheep and Rs 155 in goat.
Financial Loss due to Mortality of Sheep and
Goats
The financial loss due to mortality in the affected
animal farm was on an average Rs 21368 in sheep farm
and Rs 1673 in goat farm (Table 6). Only the value of
animal was considered for estimating the loss due to
mortality in a farm. By taking a liberal view based on
farmer’s response and animal’s price (around
Table 3. Mortality rate of sheep and goats
Species Animal Total Mortality
infected animals rate,
in the farm in the farm %
Sheep Total 812 6014 13.50
Average 14.25 105.51
Goat Total 29 340 8.53
Average 1.12 13.08
Table 4. Losses due to peste des petits ruminants in Maharastra
(in Rs)
Animal Reduction in Reduction in Reduction in Reduction in Total
production price due abortion market value wool/hair quality
Sheep 323 (35.18) 185 (20.15) 404 (44.01) 6 (0.66) 918 (100.00)
Goat 339 (35.87) 193 (20.42) 408 (43.18) 5 (0.53) 945 (100.00)
Note: Figures within the parentheses indicate percentages to the total loss
Table 5. Treatment cost paid by farm respondents
(in Rs)
Cost components                          Small ruminants
Sheep Goat
Medicines 86 (52.04) 80 (51.61)
Veterinary services 8 (4.94) 8 (5.16)
Labour charges 9 (5.56) 9 (5.81)
Disinfectant charges 4 (2.46) 6 (3.87)
Infertility charges 52 (32.04) 47 (30.33)
Miscellaneous costs 3  (1.86) 5 (3.22)
Total cost components 162 (100.00) 155 (100.00)
Note: Figures within the parentheses indicate percentages
to the total322 Agricultural Economics Research Review    Vol.22   July-December  2009
Table 6. Financial loss due to mortality of sheep and goats
Parameters                    Species
Sheep Goats
No. of disease affected farms 57 26
No. of animals in farms 6014 340
No. of animals affected in farms 3187 175
No. of animal died in farms 812 29
Price per unit of dead animal, Rs 1500 1500
Total direct loss estimated, Rs 1218000 43500
Average loss per affected farm 21368 1673
Rs 1500/-) the loss was estimated to be of over one
million rupees. In a state, where sheep and goat
population is around 13.75 million (10.68 million goats
and 3.07 million sheep), fifty per cent susceptible
population can provide a loss not in millions but in billions
to small and poor farmers. The annual loss due to goat
disease with 11 per cent mortality has been estimated
to be of Tk 870 million in Bangladesh (Sayeed et. al.,
2005)
Conclusions
The study has estimated the loss due to peste des
peste ruminants disease in goats and sheep in the study
area. Though the farmer is very small but the
populations of small ruminants handling by them are
in sizable number. The sudden outbreaks are major set
back to them proportionate to their status. The major
component of loss has been found due to reduction in
the market value of animal after the disease in both
goats and sheep. The study has found that the disease
not only causes animal death but also leads to reduction
in milk yield and weight loss, which reflect a huge
liability on them and their farm economy.
Acknowledgement
The authors are thankful to the anonymous referee
for his valuable and constructive comments.
References
Census (2003) 17th Livestock Census, Department of Animal
Husbandry and Dairying, Government of India, New
Delhi.
DIS (2007) Disease Surveillance, Western Regional Disease
Investigation Section, Aundh, Pune, Department of
Animal Husbandry, Maharashtra.
Hossain, M.A., Alam, M.S. and Islam, M.F. (1996) Incidence
of diseases of livestock and its economic loss among
the selected rural households in Bangladesh.
Bangladesh Journal of Animal Sciences, 25(1-2): 11-
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Sayyed, M.A, Ataur Rahman, S.M., Alam, J. and Taimur,
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17th Livestock Census, Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying, Government of India,

An economic study on goat diseases in some selected areas of Bangladesh,

Disease Surveillance, Western Regional Disease Investigation Section,

Incidence of diseases of livestock and its economic loss among the selected rural households in Bangladesh.

Prevalence and distribution of peste des petits ruminants virus infection in small ruminants

Economic Implications of Peste des petits ruminants (PPR) Disease in Sheep and Goats: A Sample Analysis of District Pune, Maharastra

Economic Implications of Peste des petits ruminants (PPR) Disease in Sheep and Goats: A Sample Analysis of District Pune, Maharastra

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