Clinical and Diagnostic Studies of Contagious Ecthyma (ORF) In Sheep

Contagious ecthyma in sheep of Basrah, Iraq were detected clinically and diagnosed. The study was carried out on one hundred thirty two sheep, aged 3-8 months and of both sexes reared in Basrah Governorate, Basrah Iraq. One hundred and twenty two animals show the pathognomic clinical manifestations of contagious ecthyma and, Ten clinically normal sheep were considered as controls. Disease animals show signs of anorexia, depression and dullness, Moreover, contagious ecthyma lesions are severe and restricted to the skin in the form of excretive , inclusive , diffusive painful papular and or pustuler lesions appear at mouth commeasure ,upper and lower part of lips and on the muzzle , Moreover ,Some infective lesions were appear also on nose , Furthermore , lesion of upper eye lid were indicated in one animal, On the other hand some animals show more advanced lesions in the form of thicker, brownish , rapidly accretive scabs with granulation, which when removed, leave an area of raw bleeding . Orf lesions had offensive odor and in severe infection fissures were observed on the lower lip . Diagnosis of contagious ecthyma virus confirmed by PCR test, thereby samples were found positive show the predicted PCR amplicon size of 408 bp , Moreover, a significant increase was encountered in body temperature ,respiratory and heart rate of diseased sheep than in controls , In addition results of hematological examinations indicated leukocytosis and lymphocytosis whereas the sedimentation rate of erythrocytes were significantly increased , Moreover , a significant increaser in haptoglobin and Fibrinigen time were indicated in diseased sheep compared with controls.