Isolation and identification of foot and mouth disease virus during an outbreak of 2006 in Egypt

Abstract EN

In January 2006, an outbreak of foot and mouth disease (FMD) started in bulls imported and kept in quarantine station at Ismallia Governorate, then occurred among local cattle, buffaloes and dairy farms in most governorates in upper and lower Egypt with 100% morbidity and high mortality rates reach to 80% in newly born calves.

The virus isolated from imported and local animals was identified in Egypt as serotype A, using double sandwich enzyme-linked immunoso-rbent assay and this was subsequently confirmed by the World Refere-nce Laboratory for Foot and Mouth Disease in Pirbright (United Kingdom).

Examination of 62 sera collected during the outbreak against FMDV-3ABC polyprotein antigen revealed that 43 sera (include all sera of imported bulls) tested positive.

Out of the 43 positive sera tested with virus neutralization, 34 sera had antibodies against isolated serotype A / EGY / 1 / 2006 FMD virus with titers ranged from 0.75 to 1.35 log10TCID50.

FMD-WRL added that type A / EGY / 1 / 2006 virus was antigenic ally related to serotype A FMD virus isolated from Ethiopia, Kenya, Yemen and Saudi Arabia.

Accor-dingly, the obtained results and the results of FMD-WRL suggesting that type A virus may have been introduced into Egypt through live animal importation.