Sore Mouth
This disease of young sheep and goats is usually not a serious disease but it is important because it is transmissible to humans. In other words, if you aren’t careful when you handle a lamb with soremouth, YOU CAN GET IT!
Other names for soremouth are Orf, Scabby Mouth and Contagious Ecthyma. It is caused by a member of the Pox virus family. These viruses cause small blisters around the mouth, on the lips and even sometimes in the mouth or on the tongue. The blisters break and scabs form around the lips and nose. These sores are painful and sometimes the lamb won’t eat, especially if the sores are in the its mouth.
If you notice sores or scabs around the mouth and nose of your lamb, be sure to handle the lamb with rubber gloves so you don’t get sores too. The scabs take about 2-3 weeks to heal. There is no really good treatment. However, the spray lubricant, WD-40, seems to hasten the healing better than anything else. Cover the nostrils of the lamb before spraying the sores with WD-40, so it doesn’t inhale the lubricant. The disease is very contagious and if the lamb has another lamb as a companion, changes are that it, too, will get soremouth. If your lamb has it at fair time, you will not be allowed to bring it to the fair.