Emerging Infectious Disease ISSN: 1080-6059

Sheep-to-Human Transmission of Orf Virus during Eid al-Adha Religious Practices, France

Antoine Nougairede¹

, Christelle Fossati¹, Nicolas Salez, Stephan Cohen-Bacrie, Laetitia Ninove, Fabrice Michel, Samer Aboukais, Mathias Buttner, Christine Zandotti, Xavier de Lamballerie, and Remi N. Charrel

Author affiliations: Author affiliations: Aix-Marseille University, Marseille, France (A. Nougairede, N. Salez, L. Ninove, X. de Lamballerie, R.N. Charrel); Assistance Publique–Hopitaux de Marseille, Marseille (A. Nougairede, L. Ninove, C. Zandotti, X. de Lamballerie, R.N. Charrel); Hôpital Paul Desbief, Marseille (C. Fossati); AlphaBio Laboratory, Marseille (S. Cohen-Bacrie); Service Santé, Protection Animales et Environnement, Marseille (F. Michel); Regional Office of the French Institute for Public Health Surveillance (Institut de Veille Sanitaire), Marseille (S. Aboukais); Bavarian Health and Food Safety Authority, Oberschleißheim, Germany (M. Buttner)

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Figure 1

Orf virus infection in 5 persons who butchered or prepared lambs as part of a religious practice for Eid al-Adha (the Muslim Feast of Sacrifice), Marseille, France, 2011. Cutaneous lesions on hands of case-patient 3 (A, B) and case-patient 5 (C) are shown. Negative-staining electron microscopy of samples from case-patient 3 (D) and case-patient 5 (E, F) show ovoid particles (≈250 nm long, 150 nm wide) with a crisscross appearance; the size and appearance of these particles are highly suggestive

Figure 1. . Orf virus infection in 5 persons who butchered or prepared lambs as part of a religious practice for Eid al-Adha (the Muslim Feast of Sacrifice), Marseille, France, 2011. Cutaneous lesions on hands of case-patient 3 (A, B) and case-patient 5 (C) are shown. Negative-staining electron microscopy of samples from case-patient 3 (D) and case-patient 5 (E, F) show ovoid particles (≈250 nm long, 150 nm wide) with a crisscross appearance; the size and appearance of these particles are highly suggestive of parapoxvirus virions.

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¹These authors contributed equally to this article.

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