Clinicopathological and molecular investigation of sheep pox in southern districts of Karnataka, India

Sheep pox is a highly contagious viral disease that affects small ruminants and is caused by sheep pox virus from the Capripoxvirus genus belonging to the Poxviridae family. Outbreaks of this disease cause enormous economic losses to the sheep industry by reducing the quality of wool and hide followed by high morbidity and mortality rates. This communication pertains to the clinicopathological investigation of outbreak of sheep pox disease in Bandur crossbred sheep from different villages in Mandya and Chamarajnagar districts of Southern Karnataka, India. Amid 607 sheep, 353 animals were affected clinically and 100 died in 15 households from 6 different villages. The morbidity, mortality, and case fatality rates were 58.15%, 16.47% and, 28.33%, respectively. The affected animals showed mucopurulent nasal discharge and typical skin lesions were spread all over the body. Gross lesions such as severe pneumonia with nodular lesions in all lobes of lungs were seen. The liver also had whitish multifocal discrete necrotic foci. The histopathological examination revealed interstitial pneumonia with the infiltration of mononuclear cells in the interstitial area. The eosinophilic spherical intracytoplasmic inclusions were seen both in bronchial epithelium and in degenerating hepatocytes. The disease was diagnosed as sheep pox using polymerase chain reaction by targeting the ITRs gene. Based on clinical history, characteristic skin lesions, post-mortem, histopathological and molecular findings, the outbreak was confirmed as sheep pox.