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Identification, molecular characterization, and pathological features of orf virus in sheep and goats in Punjab province, Pakistan

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Abstract

Orf virus (ORFV) causes an acute, contagious, skin disease of sheep and goats which is economically important. The objectives of this study were to identify ORFV and to explore its pathological and phylogenetic profiles in 350 goats and 91 sheep of 14 districts of Punjab, Pakistan, from July 2020 to July 2021. Skin scrapings (total no. of samples = 441) of suspected animals were subjected to polymerase chain reactions, phylogenetic analysis, and pathological observations. The partial length of GIF/IL-2 gene (408 bp) was successfully amplified in 58/441 samples. Phylogenetic analysis of GIF/IL2 gene showed that the study isolates belonged to ORFV-cluster I, together with the viruses reported in India and China. Pakistan ORFV isolates were shared 97.6–98.7% nucleotide and 97.6–100% amino acid identities with the reference strain (NC_005336). Moreover, Chinese ORFV-isolates were detected unique multiple amino acid substitutions (F11L, Q21H, D27N, I46V, N49S, N82D, D103N, S129G) with study isolates. Naturally infected animals were anorexic, emaciated, dull, and depressed. The macroscopic lesions included multifocal to coalescing, ulceration followed by proliferative papules, pustules, and crust formation on the epidermis of gums, lips, mouth commissure, muzzles, nose, and udder. Histopathological examination revealed hyperplasia, anastomosing rete ridges formation and degenerative changes, including spongiosis and vacuolation of epidermal cells. Keratinocytes exhibited eosinophilic intracytoplasmic inclusion bodies with pyknotic and karyorrhexis nuclei. This is the first report on molecular characterization of ORFV from Pakistan, with insight into its pathogenesis and comparative analysis of pathological alterations and genetic diversity between ORFV strains reported in different geographical areas.

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The authors declare that all the data and materials used in this study comply with field standards and available on demand.

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Funding

This study was funded by the Higher Education Commission of Pakistan under the project “Faculty Development Program for Pakistani Universities” Batch II (17–5/FVS2-001/HEC/Sch-FDP/2019).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pathology, Faculty of Veterinary Sciences, University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Lahore, Pakistan

    Irtaza Hussain, Muti ur Rehman Khan, Asim Aslam & Ahsan Anjum

  2. Department of Pathobiology, Faculty of Veterinary Sciences, Bahauddin Zakariya University Multan, Multan, Pakistan

    Irtaza Hussain

  3. Institute of Microbiology, Faculty of Veterinary Sciences, University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Lahore, Pakistan

    Masood Rabbani

  4. Department of Anatomy and Histology, University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Lahore, Pakistan

    Saima Masood

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  1. Irtaza Hussain
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  2. Muti ur Rehman Khan
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Contributions

Irtaza Hussain conducted this study as part of his PhD research work under the supervision of Muti ur Rehman Khan, Asim Aslam, and Masood Rabbani. Ahsan Anjum helped in data collection and helped in the lab work, statistical analysis, and formatting of the manuscript. Muti ur Rehman Khan, Asim Aslam, Saima Masood, and Masood Rabbani helped in reviewing the manuscript. All authors read and approve the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Muti ur Rehman Khan.

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All the procedures performed in this study were in accordance with the ethical standards of the University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Lahore, Pakistan, and approval was granted by the Animal Ethical Review Committee.

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Hussain, I., Khan, M.u.R., Aslam, A. et al. Identification, molecular characterization, and pathological features of orf virus in sheep and goats in Punjab province, Pakistan. Trop Anim Health Prod 55, 24 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11250-022-03432-z

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