molecular epidemiology of circulating sheep and goat pox virus strains in iran

Sheep pox (sp) and goat pox (gp) are caused by capripoxviruses, a genus within the poxviridae family which also include lumpy skin disease (lsd) of cattle. this family are characterized by their large, complex virion structure and double-stranded dna genome. the diseases are highly contagious and are transmitted through direct contact, aerosols, and contaminated fomites. clinical signs include fever, ocular and nasal discharge, and skin and mucosal lesions, which can vary in severity based on the host s immune status and the virus strain. while indigenous breeds may exhibit milder symptoms, newly introduced animals from disease-free regions are often more susceptible to severe illness and mortality. sheep pox virus and goat pox virus are closely related but cannot be differentiated based on serologic tests. although they share a common ancestor with the lumpy skin disease virus, there is no evidence suggesting cross-species transmission or disease causation in sheep and goats by lsdv. to investigate the molecular identification and phylogenetic analysis of sheep and goat pox virus (sgp) in iran during 2022, a total of 2020 samples were collected from suspected animals across 31 provinces. of the 1890 sheep samples, 142 tested positive, while 17 of the 130 goat samples were confirmed as positive. sequence analysis of the p32 gene, conducted on 85 isolates, revealed that the majority of sequences aligned with the sheep pox virus (genbank mn072631.1). following confirmation of sample identity, 18 mutations were identified and categorized into five distinct viral groups (g1-g5). representatives from each group were deposited in the ncbi database and assigned unique genbank codes (oq128104, oq128105, oq128106, oq128107, and oq128108). the findings of this study contribute to the development of disease models and the identification of regions with a high risk of sgp outbreaks.