Occurrence of severe mucosal form of contagious ecthyma in mature sheep

Contagious Ecthyma (Orf), a worldwide distributed zoonotic viral disease of sheep and goat, has significant economic impacts. The disease is frequently referred to  by the term  "proliferative skin lesions outside the buccal cavity of young animals". This report details the occurrence of the severe mucosal form of contagious ecthyma in mature sheep. The disease was observed in a number of mature animals in a sheep flock that exhibited increased heart and respiratory rates, as well as highly disseminated erosive lesions on the tongue, dental pad, gums and interior face of the lips. Given the clinical indications of  contagious ecthyma, sample specimens from the mucosal lesions was collected and subjected to molecular virology test (PCR) that tentatively confirmed diagnosis of contagious ecthyma in the sheep flock. The sick sheep that were treated with supportive therapy and care eventually recovered from the disease. Investigations revealed the affected sheep grazed on poor pasture containing thorny Astragalus and Rosa persica, which may have facilitated the mucosal form of the disease manifested. This was likely exacerbated by the drought. This report underscores the significance of the contagious ecthyma virus in pathogenesis of oral mucosal lesions, which must be distinguished from those of similar mucosal diseases.