[Congenital "ectromelia" in fur-bearing animals caused by Orthopoxvirus muris].

Orthopox virus infection is endemic in farms with fur-bearing animals in the Czech Republic (Bohemia and Moravia). This disease is called ectromelia of silver foxes and minks. The infection is congenitally transmitted and manifests itself in reproductive disorders, stillbirth or birth of sick neonates. Adult animals are usually free of clinical symptoms. The infective agent was isolated from recent outbreaks and was identified as a mouse pox virus (Orthopoxvirus muris) by its cultural and immunological characteristics. The significance of this pox virus infection, hitherto not described in Western Europe, is discussed.