Nigeria was declared provisionally free from Rinderpest (RP) disease in
1998 and vaccination against the disease was discontinued in the
country since then. The Office of International des Epizooties (OIE)
Scientific Commission approved the dossier on freedom from disease from
Nigeria and issued the certificate to that effect on 25th May, 2005.
However, the presence and activities of RP virus in Nigeria are yet to
be sufficiently ascertained. In this study, we have used slaughtered
camels ( Camelus Dromedarius ) that were never vaccinated against RP
as sentinels to monitor the presence of the virus in Nigeria. Two
hundred and twenty camel sera were tested for presence of RP and Pestes
des petits ruminants (PPR) antibodies in a competitive enzyme-linked
immunosorbent assay (c-ELISA). Of the sera tested, 20 (9.3%) were found
to be positive for RP antibody. None of the sera tested positive for
PPR antibody. Camels could serve as putative foci for the maintenance
and spread of RP virus in this environment
