FMD virus isolates: The candidate strains for polyvalent vaccine development in Ethiopia

The study was conducted on foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) viruses with the aim of selecting appropriate vaccinal strain to control of FMD in Ethiopia. The study was conducted in two-dimensional virus neutralization assay to determine the antigenic relationship ‘r’ value between the candidate vaccine strains and field isolates. A total of 21 serotype O, 7 serotype A, and 8 serotype SAT 2 FMD viruses, which were isolated from cattle and swine. A couple of isolates from each serotype were identified as vaccine candidates in the trial (O-ETH/38/2005, O-ETH/58/2008, A-ETH/7/2008, A-ETH/6/2000, SAT2-ETH/76/2009 and SAT2-ETH/64/2009). The finding revealed all the vaccine candidate depicted high antigenic similarity, above the mean “r” value, to their own serotypes in the studied serotype population except for one serotype A field isolate, A-ETH/13/1981, with “r” value = 0.14 and 0.25) which is significantly lower than the minimum requirement. In general, the result indicated that these candidate vaccinal strains can be used for polyvalent vaccine production in the country.

The study was conducted on FMD virusisolates with the aim of selecting appropriate vaccinal strain and two isolates from each serotype were identified for the trial. The finding revealed that allfield isolateshave high antigenic similarity with vaccinal strains, except one serotype A isolate.Figure optionsDownload as PowerPoint slideHighlights
► The Serotype O and SAT 2 isolates are found antigenically highly related.
► Most except one Serotype A isolate were found antigenically related with the candidate vaccinal strains.
► Vaccine candidate O-ETH/38/2005, A-ETH/7/2008, and SAT2-ETH/7/2009 provided better antigenenic neutralization as compared with their alternative vaccine strain candidates.