The first outbreak of peste des petits ruminants in ovine in Tibet was confirmed by multiple laboratory tests including one step real-time RT-PCR, conventional RT-PCR, competitive ELISA and virus isolation. The presence of PPRV was detected in 11 out of 13 field samples by one step real-time RT-PCR, among which 8 were further detected by conventional RT-PCR. Sequence analysis showed that the virus fell into the lineage 4 which was epidemic in Middle East and certain western Asian countries. One strain of PPRV was isolated in Vero cell lines from field samples and confirmed by RT-PCR test.