# A rare case of human infection with Orf virus in China, 2024

## TL;DR

A rare case of human infection with Orf virus was reported in China, highlighting the need for awareness among clinicians.

## Contribution

This study reports a rare human Orf virus infection in China and provides genetic insights into the virus strain.

## Key findings

- A 66-year-old shepherd in China was diagnosed with Orf virus after contact with infected sheep.
- The virus showed 99.46% nucleotide identity to a Russian strain but lower similarity to Chinese strains.
- The findings suggest the importance of considering Orf virus in human diagnoses in endemic areas.

## Abstract

Orf virus is a globally distributed zoonotic pathogen that mainly infects sheep and goats, although cases of human infection have been occasionally reported. In this study, we reported a rare case of human infection with Orf virus in China. A 66-year-old shepherd in Jining City of Shandong Province, China, presented to the hospital with multiple purulent nodules on his right arm, left wrist, and jaw that had developed over the last 8 days. About 20 days before admission, he had come into direct contact with infected sheep. Infection with the Orf virus was diagnosed based on amplification and analysis of the viral B2L gene, which exhibited the highest nucleotide identity (99.46%) to an Orf virus strain from Russia but was relatively distant from other Orf strains from China. The F1L gene was also recovered, although it had lower identity (98.71%) to the China strains. Our results imply that clinicians in China need to stay alert for Orf infection in humans to ensure accurate and prompt diagnosis, especially in endemic areas.