Human Infection with Orf Virus and Description of Its Whole Genome, France, 2017.

Zoonotic transmission of parapoxvirus from animals to humans has been reported; clinical manifestations are skin lesions on the fingers and hands after contact with infected animals. We report a human infection clinically suspected as being ecthyma contagiosum. The patient, a 65-year-old woman, had 3 nodules on her hands. She reported contact with a sheep during the Aïd-el-Fitr festival in France during 2017. We isolated the parapoxvirus orf virus from these nodules by using a nonconventional cell and sequenced the orf genome. We identified a novel orf virus genome and compared it with genomes of other orf viruses. More research is needed on the genus Parapoxvirus to understand worldwide distribution of and infection by orf virus, especially transmission between goats and sheep.

Molecular characterization of orf virus from sheep and goats in Ethiopia, 2008-2013.

BACKGROUND: Orf is a contagious disease of sheep, goats and wild ungulates caused by orf virus (ORFV) a member of the genus Parapoxvirus, Poxviridae family. Although orf is endemic in Ethiopia, little attention has been given so far as it is not a notifiable disease by the World Organization for Animal Health. In this work, we have investigated orf outbreaks representing five different geographical locations of Ethiopia, in Amba Giorgis, Gondar zuria, Adet, Debre zeit and Adami Tulu, between 2008 and 2013. RESULTS: The viral isolation and the sequence analysis of the A32L and the B2L genes of eighteen representative isolates confirmed that sampled animals were infected by ORFVs. The phylogenetic study and the comparative analysis of the deduced amino acid profile suggests that there were two main clusters of ORFV isolates which were responsible for the investigated outbreaks. Additionally the analysis of these two genes showed limited variability to ORFVs encountered elsewhere. This is the first report on the genetic characterization of the ORFV isolates from sheep and goats in Ethiopia. CONCLUSION: The molecular characterization of Ethiopian ORFV isolates highlighted the circulation of two main clusters causing orf disease in sheep and goats. The use of laboratory based methods and a constant monitoring of Ethiopian ORFV isolates is needed to better understand the dynamic of ORFV circulating in the country and facilitate the implementation of control measures.

[Robert Koch's unpublished and unfinished experiments on sheep-pox (author's transl)]. / Nicht veröffentlichte unvollendete Versuche Robert Kocks über Schafpocken

The archives of the Robert Koch Institute include a casket with preparations and handwritten notes by Robert Koch (Fig. 1). He made these preparations during his time as a rural doctor between October of 1878 and September of 1880. They refer to an outbreak of sheep-pox at Rackwitz, a place near his practice at Wollstein (Fig. 2). This work has not been published; we know of it from one of Robert Koch's private letters (11). To reconstruct his working scheme and reasoning, we consulted particularly his reports on rinderpest experiments which he began in 1896 (6). The preparations from this casket which had been stained with Bismarck brown (according to Weigert) date back to a period when Robert Koch developed the foundations of bacteriology and they are evidence of his preparedness to accept new operational procedures (1, 2, 3). Thus, we have to assume that these preparations were to serve as evidence of a bacteriological etiology of sheep-pox. A wrong conclusion as to associations between the superinfection present and etiology of the disease (7) was ruled out by maintaining his own postulate. Simultaneously with this preparation work, Robert Koch performed animal experiments (11). His experience from these studies was utilized later on in his rinderpest experiments (6). On account of his confrontation with viral disease - which had its starting point in his unpublished work on sheep-pox - Robert Koch stated his postulate to be valid in the same manner as if bacteriological etiology had been demonstrated (4,6). The importance of these preparations is also seen in the interpretation of viral tissue damage, i.e. increase of macrophages and plasma cells with subsequent necrosis (9) characteristic of vira infection (Figs. 3, 4).