Contagious Ecthyma Dermatitis as a Portal of Entry for Erysipelothrix rhusiopathiae in Muskoxen (Ovibos moschatus) of the Canadian Arctic

Erysipelothrix rhusiopathiae was detected immunohistochemically in contagious ecthyma (orf virus) dermatitis in two muskoxen (Ovibos moschatus), harvested and found dead in 2014 and 2015, respectively, on Victoria Island, Canada. This may help target further research on E. rhusiopathiae epidemiology and mechanisms of infection in muskoxen, recently associated with widespread mortalities in Canada's Arctic.