HISTOPATHOLOGICAL AND HORMONAL ASSESSMENT OF CONTAGIOUS ECHTHYMA DISEASE IN LAMB RAMS
Contagious echthyma disease (Orf) is one of the most important, highly infectious and contagious skin viral disease that affects sheep, goats, and wild ruminants, and it is transmitted to humans through contact with infected animals. The current research designed to assisted the histopathological lesions of (Orf) on lamb rams genetalia (testes and epididymis ) although hormonal evaluation ( testestrone ). (PCR) technique used to diagnose the ORF virus taken from clinically infected ram's skin lesion , evaluation of testosterone hormone and histopathological changes of infected ram testes and epididymis ( n=20) in alshomaly province , Babil governorate, Iraq. Results of the clinical examination revealed typical lesions of the disease that started in the form of redness, papules, blisters and crusts in the lips, mouth and scrotum . The results of the molecular diagnosis revealed that the suspected sheep were infected by detecting part of the ORFV037 gene, which has a size of (173) base pair was close to MG712417.1 from China, testosterone hormone assessment revealed sharp decline with significant difference(<.0001) in infected rams compared with non-infected group. Histopathological examination shows presence of interstitial tissue edema and hemorrhage , necrosis and desquamation of epithelial layer in seminiferous tubules with filling the lumen with cellular debris too absent of spermatogenesis and severe vaculation epithelial layer of seminiferous tubules. The histopathological pictures of epididymis in infected lamb rams shows empty of epididymis tubules lumen with interstitial tissue fibrosis , and desquamations of epithelium lining
Keywords: Contagious Echthyma Disease, Testosterone , Histopathology, Testes, Epididymis.