Abstract:
Background: Orf virus, the prototype of parapoxvirus, is the main causative agent of contagious ecthyma. Little is
known about the status of the disease in Ethiopia and this study was aimed at determining its status using PCR as
a confirmatory tool.
Methods: a total of 400 randomly selected sheep and goat was screened for the identification of the virus using
amplification of B2L gene and transfection of mammalian cells (VERO cells).
Results: Out of 400 animals screened for infection of the virus, 48 animals were found positive to PCR and revealed
an overall incidence of 12%. Different epidemiological parameters were considered to look at the association with
incidence of the disease and of which, only species of the animal(sheep), non-vaccinated and non-treated animals,
nursing animals, poor body condition animals, extensively managed animals, animals having mouth lesion, and
study areas having outbreak history showed higher prevalence. A univariate logistic regression analysis showed
statistically significant difference in all variables (P < 0.05). Whereas, age and sex of animals showed no significant
difference (P < 0.05).
Conclusion: The result of the present finding showed high incidence of Orf virus in the region as confirmed through PCR.
Description:
Small ruminants have a tremendous importance in
terms of generating income in the form of meat, wool,
hide and occasionally milk in small scale farming. However, infectious diseases are still the health challenges by
hindering the production and productivity and this
causes huge economic loss [1, 2]. Contagious ecthyma
or alternatively called contagious pustular dermatitis is a
viral disease of sheep and goat caused by Orf virus
which belongs to the family of poxviridae and based on
the classification of international committee on taxonomy
of viruses(ICTV), it is one of the notifiable viral disease
known to have a zoonotic importance [1, 3, 4]. It is
characterized to have a benign nature, and it can cause a
large tumor like vascularized lesions which can be treated
