Phylogenetic Analysis of ORF Virus from Goats in Tanzania: Short Communication

Julius J Mwanandota,Mpelumbe-Ngeleja C A R,Mmeta Yongolo,Timothy A Holton,Mercy Macharia,Raphael Sallu

doi:10.13189/ujar.2016.040501

Abstract

ORF virus is a double-stranded DNA virus belonging to the genus Parapoxvirus (PPV) in the family poxviridae. ORF virus is the causative agent of contagious pustular dermatitis which is a zoonotic and neglected disease of humans and small ruminants. It causes severe exanthematous dermatitis that afflicts domestic and small wild ruminants. Cases of ORFV infections in goats in Tanzania have been reported for many years. The basis of reporting ORFV cases were mainly on clinical signs with no confirmatory tests (Ministry of Livestock Development reports-Tanzania). In this study, a case of proliferative dermatitis in goats was confirmed using PCR. A physical examination of the animal was carried out and tissue scrapings were collected for molecular analysis in the laboratory. The presence of ORFV in tissue scrapings from the lips was tested by GIF/IL-2gene polymerase chain reaction (PCR), DNA sequencing and phylogenetic analysis of the GIF/IL-2 gene. The results of this study indicated that the disease was caused by infection with a virus which is closely and genetically related to several ORF virus found in the data base. This is the first report to provide phylogenetic information about the ORF virus in Tanzania, which will be useful in prospective public health studies.

Highlights

The ORF virus (ORFV) is the first member of the genus Parapoxvirus (PPV) genus and is a causative agent of contagious ecthyma in goats, sheep and other ruminants worldwide
The orf virus suspected sample sequence was submitted to the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) through BankIT and given gene bank accession number of KJ767194
Clinical signs in the goats observed in this case study are similar to previous case reports of orf (Scagliarini A et al, 2012, Baipoledi et al 2002)

Summary

Introduction

The ORF virus (ORFV) is the first member of the genus Parapoxvirus (PPV) genus and is a causative agent of contagious ecthyma in goats, sheep and other ruminants worldwide. Clinical signs of the disease in sheep and goat can be seen on the mouth as shown on Figure 1. The diagnosis is generally done on the basis of clinical signs, which are typical, but can be confused with symptoms of other vesicular diseases of sheep and goats - including foot and mouth disease (Watson 2004), bluetongue (Baipoledi, Nyange & Hyera 2002), peste des petits ruminants (Rossiter & Taylor 1994) and sheep and goat pox (Kitching 2004; Zheng et al, 2007). The disease in human is characterised by a solitary skin lesion, which may follow an atypical course, such as lymphangitis, resembling a bacterial infection or neoplasm (Coskun et al, 2008, Karakas et al, 2010, MMWR, 2012)

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Conclusion