Ovine pulmonary adenocarcinoma be predisposed to OPA. Most affected sheep show signs at 2 to 4 years of age. OPA is not a notifiable disease, and therefore it is difficult to assess its prevalence. OPA was first described in the UK in 1888, and described in detail in South Africa in 1891. The disease was initially known as "jaagsiekte" , a word derived from Afrikaans, meaning "chasing sickness," so called because animals are in respiratory distress as if they are out of breath from being chased. It has also been known as sheep pulmonary adenomatosis and ovine pulmonary carcinoma. OPA has been used
Animal coloration resemblance; mimesis, resembling other objects of no special interest to the observer, which relates to special resemblance; countershading, using graded colour to create the illusion of flatness, which relates mainly to general resemblance; and counterillumination, producing light to match the background, notably in some species of squid. Countershading was first described by the American artist Abbott Handerson Thayer, a pioneer in the theory of animal coloration. Thayer observed that whereas a painter takes a flat canvas and uses coloured paint to create the illusion of solidity by painting in shadows, animals such as deer are often darkest on their backs,