Genetic and immunologic relationships between vaccine and field strains for vaccine selection of type A foot-and-mouth disease virus circulating in East Asia

Of the seven known serotypes of foot-and-mouth disease virus (FMDV), type A has the most diverse variations. Genetic variations also occur frequently at VP1, VP2, VP3, and VP4 because these proteins constitute the viral capsid. The structural proteins of FMDV, which are closely related to immunologic correlations, are the most easily analyzed because they have highly accessible information. In this study we analyzed the type A vaccine viruses by alignment of available sequences in order to find appropriate vaccine strains. The matching rate of ASIA topotype-specific sites (20 amino acids) located on the viral surface, which are mainly VP1 and VP2, was highly related to immunologic reactivity. Among the available vaccines analyzed in this study, we suggest that A Malaysia 97 could be used as a vaccine virus as it has the highest genetic similarity and immunologic aspects to field strains originating in East Asia.