Table 1.

Micro-organisms with zoonotic potential, associated with sheep and their possibly milk borne transmission.

Micro-organisms that may be present in sheep milk
Bacteria	Brucella spp.
	Campylobacter spp.
	Coxiella burnetii
	Leptospira spp.
	Listeria spp.
	Salmonella spp.
	Shiga-toxin producing Escherichia coli Staphylococcus aureus
Fungi	Not known
Parasites	Toxoplasma gondii
Viruses	Rift Valley fever virus (RVFV)
	Tick borne encephalitis virus (TBEV)
Micro-organisms with minor risk of transmission via sheep milk
Bacteria	Bacillus anthracis
	Bacillus cereus
	Chlamydia abortus
	Clostridium spp.
	Corynebacterium spp.
	Erysipelothrix rhusiopathiae
	Helicobacter spp.
	Mannheimia haemolytica
	Mycobacterium bovis
	Streptococcus spp.
	Yersinia spp.
Fungi	Several species (see Table 3)
Parasites	Cryptosporidium spp.
	Giardia duodenalis
Viruses	Orf virus
	Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV)