Foot-and-Mouth disease virus research at the Institute for Animal Health

The Foot-and-Mouth disease virus programme provides national and international diagnostic and advisory services and evaluates and develops improved diagnostics and vaccines that provide earlier and long lasting protection against foot-and-mouth disease (FMDV). Vaccine development is underpinned by studies to determine correlates of immunological protection. Advice on control strategies requires knowledge of transmission routes and efficiencies and of the efficacy of available vaccines. FMDV persistence remains an important barrier to animal trade and the mechanisms by which this occurs remain a significant scientific question. The other major scientific challenges are (1) to relate viral genotype to phenotype, for example to predict vaccine matches and viral virulence in order to determine host specificity and potential for pandemic spread and (2) to use our understanding of immunology, virus entry and intracellular virus replication to develop improved vaccines and antivirals.

Specific research activities:
1. Provision of national capability for FMD laboratory diagnosis and of advice to Defra..

2. Provision of international referral diagnosis and a strain characterisation service to help predict risks of FMD incursions and to recommend vaccine strains.

3. Provision of technical assistance to other FMD laboratories in Europe and worldwide and provision of advice to international disease control agencies.

4. Provision of commercial diagnostic and vaccine potency testing services.

5. Defining the distribution of FMDV types and interpreting the significance of viral mutations for tracing outbreaks and their impact on phenotype, e.g. vaccine match and potential for transmission.

6. Development of improved diagnostics to provide high throughput virus detection and characterisation, field diagnosis and substantiation of post-outbreak disease freedom.

7. Dissecting the immune response to FMDV in cattle, to define the interaction of virus with antigen presenting cells, develop correlates of protection, understand mechanisms of immunosuppression and develop and improve vaccines to provide early and prolonged protection.

8. In vivo studies of virus replication and shedding and correlation to virus transmission by airborne and contact spread as a means of developing improved models to predict viral dissemination. Studies on the occurrence and mechanism of transplacental infection in sheep

9. Predicting protection afforded by current vaccines including affect of strain variation, onset of protection and degree of virus shedding and persistence after vaccination

10. Understanding the cellular mechanisms of FMDV infection.

11. Understanding FMDV tropism, pathogenesis and persistence by studying FMDV receptor expression and activation in the animal host, identifying the cellular sites of FMD virus persistence and defining the effects of viral and host factors on FMD virus persistence.