Assessment of Contagious Ecthyma Virus in Camels of Wasit Province, Iraq

Camel contagious ecthyma (CCE) is an infectious disease caused by the Paravox virus (PPV) of the family Poxviridae. Due to the importance of the camel breeding industry in tropical and subtropical regions, the present study aimed to isolate the causative agent of camel contagious ecthyma (CCE) using cell culture and molecular confirmation of virus isolate. A total of 210 camels aged 6 months to 4 years were selected from different districts in Wasit province (Iraq) from August 2017 to April 2019. These animals, which included 117 females and 93 males, displayed signs of papules, blisters, pustules, and scabs on the skin. To isolate the CCE virus, primary and secondary cell cultivation was performed using the lamb testis (LT) cells. The findings pointed out that there were cytopathic effects during the second passage of the virus, characterized by rounding and cells aggregation after 72 h. Furthermore, there were dramatic changes, including sloughing off and detachment from the surface of the monolayer, in monolayer cells after 48-72 h. The titration values of the isolated Orf virus in LT cells were obtained at 10^-5 TCI50 /0.05 and 10^-6 TCID 50 / 0.05 ml in the third and fourth passages, respectively. As expected, the B2L gene of affected camels was amplified from a skin biopsy DNA sample to produce nearly 594 base pairs. In conclusion, the results of the current study focused on epidemiological and virological characteristics of CCE in Wasit province; moreover, the virus was confirmed by a specific gene called the B2L gene.