Development of a universal RT-PCR for amplifying and sequencing the leader and capsid-coding region of foot-and-mouth disease virus

► The capsid coding portion of FMDV genome is essential to virus characterization. ► A method to amplify the FMDV genome between the L-P1 coding region is developed. ► The universal L-P1 RT-PCR is evaluated against 183 FMDV field strains and isolates. ► Specificity and molar sensitivity of the L-P1 RT-PCR are evaluated. ► Primer sets are designed to be used as tools for rapid sequencing of the L-P1 region.