Orf virus (ORFV) is a zoonotic pathogen that primarily infects sheep and goats, and is responsible for significant economic losses. ORFV is endemic in all the major sheep and goat rearing areas of the world including Indian subcontinent. However, the nature of ORFV circulating among sheep and goat in Kashmir Himalayas has not yet been characterized. In the present study, we describe natural outbreaks of ORFV in sheep and goats of Kashmir Himalayas. We detected the presence of ORFV in the scab lesion by PCR amplification of the major envelope protein (B2L) gene. We sequenced the virus interferon resistance (VIR) gene and determined their phylogenetic relationship with that of the published reference sequences. Phylogenetic analysis based on VIR gene revealed that the ORFV isolates from Kashmir Himalayas separated into main two clusters. The sheep isolates showed genetic homology with the sheep strains reported from Greece and Italy, whereas the goat-specific strain show homology with the goat strains reported from China. This study demonstrates the presence of ORFV infection in sheep and goats, and report first phylogenetic analysis of the ORFV strains prevalent in the Kashmir Himalayas.
Keywords: Contagious ecthyma; Goat; Orf virus; Phylogenetic analysis; Sheep; Virus Interferon Resistance (VIR) gene.