Outbreak of contagious ecthyma in camels (<em>Camelus dromedarius</em> and <em>Camelus bactrianus</em>) in Southwest Iran

Camel contagious ecthyma (CCE) is a highly infectious viral skin disease of sheep, goats, and camels caused by a Parapoxvirus. This study reports an outbreak of CCE in a herd of 34 camels/dromedaries, with 24 infected animals. The infected animals exhibited severe papules on the lips and legs, increase in body temperature, profuse salivation, foul mouth smell, and facial edema. Staphylococcus aureus was identified in some samples. The morbidity and mortality rates were 70.6 and 6%, respectively. A supportive treatment was administered to the infected camels. Most of the  camels  recovered  within three weeks. Skin analysis by the polymerase chain reaction revealed the pre- sence of the B2L gene of the CE Kerman/2000 strain. This is the second report on the presence of CCE in Iran. As there is no vaccination program for camels against contagious ecthyma virus in Iran, this study may form the basis for establishing such a progra