Evolution of humoral immunity effectors in four flocks of sheep with symptoms of contagious ecthyma, from Santău village, Romania

Abstract

Contagious ecthyma or contagious pustular dermatitis is a debilitating condition located on the skin of sheep and goats, with a zoonotic character. Contagious ecthyma is a disease with economic and animal welfare implications, rarely being fatal if the host organism suffers from immunosuppression or if secondary infections occur. Similar to other members of the Poxviridae family, immunity to contagious ecthyma is mediated by both innate and adaptive immune responses. Following the invasion of the contagious ecthyma virus, immunoglobulins are mobilized that specifically bind to the contagious ecthyma virus to form immune complexes, which are then eliminated by defense system to protect tissues from damage. The level of circulating immune complexes and immunoglobulins can be quantified and can be an indicator of the stage of infection. In the present study we aimed to investigate whether there is a link between the individual characteristics (sex, age, severity of clinical signs) of sheep with orf symptoms and the evolution of circulating immune complexes and total immunoglobulins. In addition to these investigations, we aimed to follow the evolution of these immunological parameters compared to the evolution in clinically healthy animals. Investigations of the serum revealed that levels of these two parameters (total Ig and CIC), can be influenced by the individual characteristics of sheep affected by the contagious ectima and shows differences compared to clinically healthy animals.