Oaf in humans

Currently there is no approved treatment for an orf virus infection. However, the lesion can become infected with bacteria if not properly managed.

The lesion should be kept dry and covered to prevent a secondary infection with bacteria. While working with animals or during manual labor in which the lesion might get wet, use a watertight bandage. To promote healing, a non-weeping sore can be uncovered at bedtime or covered loosely if still weeping.

If you are experiencing pain, fever, or notice that the lesion is becoming rapidly larger or spreading, you should see your doctor.
Sure you are right, but its on my lip, I can't floss in that area now, which is a nuisance.
 
Got orf on a finger many years ago, doc recommended keep it covered, tincture of iodine on it 3x daily. More difficult for the lip I grant you. I would phone your doctor and establish first whether they are familiar with orf or not, it makes a difference. I wouldn't just leave it.
 

Optimus

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
North of Perth
My Mum had it once off pet lambs.
Keep eye on it and if red and starts tracking up your arm you'll need strong antibiotics.
Her arm went right up ,swollen with it and felt really unwell with it.
Most Doctors never new what it was.
Strangely a foreign doctor seen later knew straight away.
Lad that gives us a hand got it last year.i took one look at it said it's orf.he saw 2 doctors neither said it was orf.
 
I have it atm
Was quite poorly about a week into it. Had 67 nasty spots everywhere that some orfy hoggs had touched my arm and all up my side. Felt horrendous for three days then came through it and all spots went down to red pimples apart from 4 bad ones that look like classic orf. Was worried tbh thought blood poisoning was setting in up my arm but it came back down my vein before it got too high up
 
I have it atm
Was quite poorly about a week into it. Had 67 nasty spots everywhere that some orfy hoggs had touched my arm and all up my side. Felt horrendous for three days then came through it and all spots went down to red pimples apart from 4 bad ones that look like classic orf. Was worried tbh thought blood poisoning was setting in up my arm but it came back down my vein before it got too high up
We need danger pay, who else would do it.
 

Eiddwen

Member
Livestock Farmer
Is it right then that humans can have it more than once? I thought that like sheep humans got a natural resistance to it once they had contacted it?
 

neilo

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
Montgomeryshire
Are you sure it's not just a scab that's healing your injury??

Not content with contracting orf, you reckon he might have scab too? 😲

Folk will start talking about them Yorkshire folk and their ‘hobbies’ before long…

I agree with the rest of the post though. Orf can be very serious in humans, if you’re unlucky, so doesn’t want dismissing out of hand.
 

Kiwi Pete

Member
Livestock Farmer
See your doctor, and tell them your suspicions because a lot of GPs will need to look it up to know what to do about it

I had it years ago when we were contract tailing, I accidentally got myself in the thumb with a needle and the infection got in due to tailing for the next few weeks. It wasn't great, but it did come right, still have a scar there
 

JP1

Member
Livestock Farmer
My Mum had it once off pet lambs.
Keep eye on it and if red and starts tracking up your arm you'll need strong antibiotics.
Her arm went right up ,swollen with it and felt really unwell with it.
Most Doctors never new what it was.
Strangely a foreign doctor seen later knew straight away.
Happened to me . Arms elevated for days in hospital . Very painful and my eyes really stung
 
Fudacin cream will clear it up we keep it here all the time.
The other thing that treats it well is potassium manganite. You can buy the crystals from the chemist mix them with water and apply it to the effected area. It works. Either way it must be treated.
 
Had it on the back of my hands and on underside of arms when I was a teenager. A Scottish doctor immediately said Orf, known as Scabby Mouth virus in NZ. The sheep I had been handling were covered in thistles and very prickly. She was adamant that I keep hand hygiene up especially when they are around my mouth as it can get internally via the mouth where it is very difficult to treat.
Treatment was antibiotic to stop any secondary infection and let my immune system do its job. It went after a couple of weeks.

Years later when working in sheep research, lots of surplus lambs from quin, quad and triplet litters out of Booroola gene carrying ewes were artificially reared on an auto milk replacer machine. The pen bedding was wood shavings. All the lambs broke out with bad Orf. I was the only one unaffected of the group of people working with these sheep, obviously immune to the virus due to earlier exposure.
The outbreak cost those lambs about 2 weeks of growth compared to later years when the trail was repeated on straw bedding and lambs scratched with Scabivax when lifted from their dams.
 

BAF

Member
Livestock Farmer
Having been kicked around like a football by various horses over the years and have on creature apply her head to my face in the starting stalls which put my tooth through my lip and adjusted some others Id say its probably just sore.
 

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Full details of the expanded and improved Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) offer available to farmers from July have been published by the...
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