BETWEEN January 1964 and March 1965 seven farm workers on six Dorset farms developed lesions on the hand or forearm which were diagnosed as clinically typical orf infections. Material from each patient was examined by electron microscopy and tissue culture as previously described1,2. In each instance pox-virus particles were seen which in morphology and size were identical with orf virus3. In tissue culture four specimens produced the same cytopathic changes as orf virus and serial passage of three virus strains was obtained in primary human amnion and rhesus monkey kidney. No difference in behaviour was noted between these strains and orf virus strains previously grown from humans infected from sheep.