[Jacob-list] sore mouth question

[Jacobflock at aol.com]

In a message dated 4/18/03 4:53:01 PM Central Daylight Time, 
mhansson1 at triad.rr.com writes:

<< I am looking for information regarding sore mouth and TIMING of
 infection.
  
 We wound up with some variation of this problem a number of years back
 from a shearer's tarp that was used here (BAD MISTAKE!!!).  The version
 of sore mouth we have doesn't produce those textbook cases, but it
 creates a varying number of scabs around the mouths (and occasionally
 teats of the moms) of the affected sheep.  I have had 2 different vets
 confirm the diagnosis of some sort of sore mouth.  Just as my tapeworms
 are not the common variety, I apparently don't happen to have the garden
 variety of sore mouth either.
  
 Most lambs wind up with a case of it around 4-6 weeks of age.  Some have
 one scab and others have 20 or so.  The scabs have come along in the
 spring with the lambs and I haven't thought too much about the adults
 who are new to the flock that sometimes come down with it in the spring
 as well.  
  
 Adding lots more sheep this past year has allowed a greater test.  Ewes
 that came in May and the ones that came in the fall are dribbling in and
 out with a few spots on their mouths this spring starting in January. 
  
 QUESTION:  Is there a seasonal variation to this disease?  I have never
 seen it written about as such.
 >>

There may be seasonal variations related to the manifestation of sore mouth 
for sheep and humans (it is a zoonosis disease).  Symptoms more often appear 
at lambing time and shearing (spring) but may occur at other stress events.  
The virus is  "latent" and "and "shows up" when stress reduces immunity 
system and the environment supports greater virus activity.  However, the 
sore mouth virus cannot be killed by heat or cold.

Not much data is available from US vet reports because it is deemed a 
nuisance and not fatal in most cases.  However, severe outbreaks in a lambing 
cycle can be as devastating as lamb pnemonia.  

If you search on "sore mouth sheep", "ovis parapox", "parapox virus", "orf", 
you can find a number of articles related to the virus, treatment, and how it 
is spread (insights into how carriers including shearers can infect a flock 
and premises).