Successful clinical management of contagious ecthyma (Orf) in goat: A case report

Abstract

Clinical management of orf in animals is a challenging task due to as there is no specific treatment for this viral infection. Orf disease caused by a double-standard (ds) DNA virus belongs to poxviridae family. A female black goat of 1.5 years presented with the history of lameness and proliferative skin lesions around oral cavity. On clinical examination characteristics lesions and physical examination findings pointed towards contagious ecthyma. Animal was treated with Ceftriaxone (15mg/kg, IM, BID, Intacef®) for five days, meloxicam (0.5mg/kg IM, Melonex®) for 3 days. The owner was guided to a regular application of boric acid mixed with desi curd on skin lesions and honey for oral mucosal wounds, twice a day. Good personal hygiene (both veterinarian and owner) was maintained in order to avoid zoonotic transmission. Animal shown drastic improvement in the clinical condition with complete recovery from oral lesions after 30 days of treatment.