U.S. agency warns of skin lesions from goats, sheep

ATLANTA (Reuters) – People can contract skin lesions from goats and sheep infected with the Orf virus through household meat preparation or when slaughtering the animals, a federal agency said on Thursday in a report aimed at doctors in ethnically diverse communities. The Orf virus – sometimes misdiagnosed as a more serious disease such as anthrax – is most commonly transmitted to humans on farms. It has also been reported in children who visited petting zoos and livestock fairs, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said. …