Prevalence of contagious pustular dermatitis (orf) in six million lambs at slaughter: a three-year study

Authors: Robinson AJ
Publication: New Zealand Veterinary Journal, Volume 31, Issue 9, pp 161-163, Sep 1983
Publisher: Taylor and Francis

Animal type: Livestock, Production animal, Ruminant, Sheep
Subject Terms: Biosecurity, Inflammation, Integument/skin/wool/hair/fur/feather, Disease/defect, Disease surveillance, Epidemiology, Meat, Contamination/hygiene, Public health, Viral, Zoonosis, Infectious disease, Slaughter
Article class: Scientific Article

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Abstract: In the three years from October 1979 to September 1982 over 6.3 million lambs were processed in two meat works and of these 0.5% had lesions of contagious pustuiar dermatitis (CPD). The proportion of iambs affected was highest in the months of December and January when up to 2.2% of the Iambs slaughtered had lesions of CPD. On average 13.4% of a consignment (referred to as a line) of lambs showing evidence of CPD were affected. The total lambs in affected lines constituted 4.1% of the total slaughtered. If it was decided to reject for slaughter lines with CPD, approximately 1 ¼ million lambs would be returned to farms each year. It was concluded that such a policy would be unlikely to substantially reduce the level of infection in meat workers.

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