Abstract
During September and October 2017, a highly fatal outbreak of a disease clinically indistinguishable from goat pox occurred in the villages around the Kaziranga National Park, Assam, India. This was investigated through clinical examination of affected animals, individual interviews with goat keepers and participatory village meetings. Laboratory confirmation was impractical due to the isolation and poverty of the affected community and unnecessary due to the specific nature of the clinical signs. Respondents reported not having encountered the disease previously, and it would appear that a naïve local population developed within an endemically affected region because of a trend to avoid purchasing animals from outside the village. Local grazing practices appear to have had a role in both the spread and control of the outbreak. Goats are an important form of savings and cash income to people in the locality, and the outbreak may result in considerable financial hardship for affected goat keepers. We provide a detailed description of the clinical disease and the spread of the outbreak in the locality. Awareness of the disease with reference to farming practices will provide opportunities for future disease control to enhance animal welfare and rural prosperity.
Highlights
Goat and sheep pox are highly contagious viral diseases of small ruminants caused by separate pox viruses
Goat and sheep pox are closely related to lumpy skin disease of cattle, albeit there is no evidence that sheep and goat pox can affect cattle, or vice versa (OIE 2013)
Laboratory confirmation of goat pox virus was not available; the pathognomonic clinical signs of the disease were consistently observed in affected animals and described by goat keepers in individual interviews and group meetings
Summary
Goat and sheep pox are highly contagious viral diseases of small ruminants caused by separate pox viruses. Virus strains vary in their virulence (OIE 2013; Bhanuprakash et al 2010). Most are host specific for either sheep or goats, though cross infection has been reported (Malmarugan et al 2015). Goat and sheep pox are closely related to lumpy skin disease of cattle, albeit there is no evidence that sheep and goat pox can affect cattle, or vice versa (OIE 2013). Goat pox transmission is primarily by aerosols of secretions from lesions, or discharges following close contact with affected animals, but can occur via fomites and insect mechanical vectors. Chronic carriers of the virus are not
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