Scabby mouth (contagious pustular dermatitis) is a non-fatal but debilitating disease of sheep and goats. Highly contagious, it’s caused by a pox virus that usually infects lambs in the first year of life.
The virus is present in the scabs in affected animals, but it can also survive off the sheep for many years if environmental conditions are suitable – once introduced to a property, it tends to remain.
Impact on humans
Scabby mouth is a zoonoses – that means it can spread to humans! Always wear gloves and protective clothing to safeguard against inadvertent vaccine splash entering skin wounds.