Fungal diseases
Diseases caused by funguses include
Sheep and goats are both small ruminants with cosmopolitan distributions due to their being kept historically and in modern times as grazers both individually and in herds in return for their production of milk, wool, and meat. [1] As such, the diseases of these animals are of great economic importance to humans.
Diseases caused by viruses include:
Diseases caused by bacteria include:
Diseases caused by funguses include
Parasites causing disease in sheep and goats include diseases caused by protozoa, helminths, tapeworms and roundworms.
Orf is a farmyard pox, a type of zoonosis. It causes small pustules in the skin of primarily sheep and goats, but can also occur on the hands of humans. A pale halo forms around a red centre. It may persist for several weeks before crusting and then either resolves or leaves a hard lump. There is usually only one lesion, but there may be many, and they are not painful. Sometimes there are swollen lymph glands.
Veterinary parasitology is a branch of veterinary medicine that deals with the study of morphology, life-cycle, pathogenesis, diagnosis, treatment, and control of eukaryotic invertebrates of the kingdom Animalia and the taxon Protozoa that depend upon other invertebrates and higher vertebrates for their propagation, nutrition, and metabolism without necessarily causing the death of their hosts. Modern parasitology focuses on responses of animal hosts to parasitic invasion. Parasites of domestic animals,, as well as wildlife animals are considered. Data obtained from parasitological research in animals helps in veterinary practice and improves animal breeding. The major goal of veterinary parasitology is to protect animals and improve their health, but because a number of animal parasites are transmitted to humans, veterinary parasitology is also important for public health.
Ovine pulmonary adenocarcinoma (OPA), also known as ovine pulmonary adenomatosis, or jaagsiekte, is a chronic and contagious disease of the lungs of sheep and goats. OPA is caused by a retrovirus called jaagsiekte sheep retrovirus (JSRV).
Brucella melitensis is a Gram-negative coccobacillus bacterium from the Brucellaceae family. The bacterium causes ovine brucellosis, along with Brucella ovis. It affects primarily sheep and goats, but cases have also been observed in cattle, yaks, water buffalo, Bactrian and dromedary camels, alpacas, dogs, horses and pigs. Humans can become infected if they have contact with an infected animal or its byproducts. Animals acquire B. melitensis by venereal transmission and contact with the placenta, fetus, fetal fluids, and vaginal discharges from infected animals. The organism is found in blood, urine, milk, and semen. It is zoonotic, unlike B. ovis, causing Malta fever or localized brucellosis in humans.
Under United States law, Biological select agents or toxins (BSATs) — or simply select agents for short — are bio-agents which have been declared by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) or by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to have the "potential to pose a severe threat to public health and safety". The agents are divided into (1) HHS select agents and toxins affecting humans; (2) USDA select agents and toxins affecting agriculture; and (3) overlap select agents and toxins affecting both.
Jaagsiekte sheep retrovirus (JSRV) is a betaretrovirus which is the causative agent of a contagious lung cancer in sheep, called ovine pulmonary adenocarcinoma.
Bovine malignant catarrhal fever (BMCF) is a fatal lymphoproliferative disease caused by a group of ruminant gamma herpes viruses including Alcelaphine gammaherpesvirus 1 (AlHV-1) and Ovine gammaherpesvirus 2 (OvHV-2) These viruses cause unapparent infection in their reservoir hosts, but are usually fatal in cattle and other ungulates such as deer, antelope, and buffalo. In Southern Africa the disease is known as snotsiekte, from the Afrikaans.
Ovine rinderpest, also commonly known as peste des petits ruminants (PPR), is a contagious disease primarily affecting goats and sheep; however, camels and wild small ruminants can also be affected. PPR is currently present in North, Central, West and East Africa, the Middle East, and South Asia. It is caused by small ruminants morbillivirus in the genus Morbillivirus, and is closely related to, among others, rinderpest morbillivirus, measles morbillivirus, and canine morbillivirus. The disease is highly contagious, and can have an 80–100% mortality rate in acute cases in an epizootic setting. The virus does not infect humans.
Visna-maedi virus from the genus Lentivirus and subfamily Orthoretrovirinae, is a retrovirus that causes encephalitis and chronic pneumonitis in sheep. It is known as visna when found in the brain, and maedi when infecting the lungs. Lifelong, persistent infections in sheep occur in the lungs, lymph nodes, spleen, joints, central nervous system, and mammary glands; The condition is sometimes known as ovine progressive pneumonia (OPP), particularly in the United States, or Montana sheep disease. White blood cells of the monocyte/macrophage lineage are the main target of the virus.
Mycobacterium caprae is a species of bacteria in the genus Mycobacterium and a member of the Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex. The species is named after the caprines, the organisms from which M. caprae was first isolated. Prior to 2003, the species was referred to as Mycobacterium tuberculosis subsp. caprae. It is also synonymous with the name Mycobacterium bovis subsp. caprae.
Dichelobacter nodosus, formerly Bacteroides nodosus, is a Gram-negative, obligate anaerobe of the family Cardiobacteriaceae. It has polar fimbriae and is the causative agent of ovine foot rot as well as interdigital dermatitis. It is the lone species in the genus Dichelobacter.
Variola caprina is a contagious viral disease caused by Goatpox virus, a pox virus that affects goats. The virus usually spreads via the respiratory system, and sometimes spreads through abraded skin. It is most likely to occur in crowded stock. Sources of the virus include cutaneous lesions, saliva, nasal secretions and faeces. There are two types of the disease: the papulo-vesicular form and the nodular form. The incubation period is usually 8–13 days, but it may be as short as four days.
Caprine arthritis encephalitis virus (CAEV) is a retrovirus which infects goats and cross-reacts immunologically with HIV, due to being from the same family of viruses. CAEV cannot be transmitted to humans, including through the consumption of milk from an infected goat. There is no evidence that CAEV can cure HIV in humans.
Mites that infest and parasitize domestic animals cause disease and loss of production. Mites are small invertebrates, most of which are free living but some are parasitic. Mites are similar to ticks and both comprise the order Acari in the phylum Arthropoda. Mites are highly varied and their classification is complex; a simple grouping is used in this introductory article. Vernacular terms to describe diseases caused by mites include scab, mange, and scabies. Mites and ticks have substantially different biology from, and are classed separately from, insects. Mites of domestic animals cause important types of skin disease, and some mites infest other organs. Diagnosis of mite infestations can be difficult because of the small size of most mites, but understanding how mites are adapted to feed within the structure of the skin is useful.
Mites are small crawling animals related to ticks and spiders. Most mites are free-living and harmless. Other mites are parasitic, and those that infest livestock animals cause many diseases that are widespread, reduce production and profit for farmers, and are expensive to control.
Macavirus is a genus of viruses in the order Herpesvirales, in the family Herpesviridae, in the subfamily Gammaherpesvirinae. Mammals serve as natural hosts. There are nine species in this genus. Diseases associated with this genus include: inapparent infection in their reservoir hosts, but fatal lymphoproliferative disease when they infect MCF-susceptible hosts, including cattle, deer, bison, water buffalo and pigs.
Chabertia ovina, the large-mouthed bowel worm, is a species of parasitic roundworms that infects sheep, goats and other wild ruminants. Infection of pigs are very infrequent. It is not known to be contagious to humans.
The enzootic nasal tumor virus of the betaretrovirus genus is a carcinogenic retrovirus that causes enzootic nasal adenocarcinoma in sheep and goats. Strain ENTV-1 is found in sheep and strain ENTV-2 is found in goats. The virus causes tumor growth in the upper nasal cavity and is closely related to JSRV which also causes respiratory tumors in ovine. The disease, enzootic nasal adenocarcinoma is common in North America and is found in sheep and goats on every continent except New Zealand and Australia. There are more than 27 betaretroviruses similar to ENVT and JSRV in the ovine genome. In the future, research on ENTV may become important in studying viruses that cause human lung cancer.
Notoedric mange, also referred to as Feline scabies, is a highly contagious skin infestation caused by an ectoparasitic and skin burrowing mite Notoedres cati. N. cati is primarily a parasite of felids, but it can also infest rodents, lagomorphs, and occasionally also dogs and foxes. This skin disease also has zoonotic potential. Infestation is also called acariasis, which refers to a rash that is caused by mites.