Current Status of Ovine Pulmonary Adenocarcinoma (Jaagsiekte)

Ovine pulmonary adenocarcinoma (OPA) / Jaagsiekte (Afrikaans: Jaag: Chasing, Driving; Siekte: Sickness - because affected sheep have the appearance of having being chased and the disease is most noticeable when sheep are being herded), earlier known as ovine pulmonary adenomatosis/ovine pulmonary carcinoma. OPA, a progressive respiratory disease, principally affecting adult animals, is a transmissible contagious tumour of lung, brocnchoalveolar carcinoma, caused by exogenous beta retrovirus which has an oncogenic protein that develops lung tumor in sheep and rarely, of goats and moufflons OPA was first described early 19th century in South Africa. OPA was first reported from India in Tamil Nadu State in 1960.