Efficacy of Recombinant Genetic Diagnostic Tools for Foot-and-Mouth Disease Virus (FMDV)

Abstract

The Foot and Mouth Disease Virus (FMDV) is one of the most fearful animal viruses infecting all cloven-footed species and causing significant economic losses in the global livestock industry. The virus's seven serotypes and numerous genetic subtypes complicate its diagnosis in both at-risk and endemic areas, facing any control programs. The non-structural polypeptide (NSP) 3ABC of FMDV is the most reliable for serotype-independent antibody detection, and an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) based on this has proven reliable. To facilitate FMDV diagnosis in Egypt, the polyprotein 3ABC encoding nucleotide sequence of FMDV serotype O1 was cloned, expressed in a baculovirus-insect cell system, and characterized. An indirect ELISA was developed using the secreted recombinant 3ABC protein (rec3ABC) as a coating antigen, derived from insect cells infected with the recombinant baculovirus recBac/3ABC. This ELISA demonstrated efficacy in detecting anti-FMDV antibodies in bovine sera, showing reasonable correlation (R ≥ 0.85) with a commercial 3ABC-blocking ELISA. The developed assay emerges as a reliable and cost-effective tool for anti-FMD antibody detection in both control and experimental bovine sera. Its potential applications include routine monitoring of FMDV seroconversions in infected, carrier, and vaccinated animals, as well as screening animals during quarantine and quality control of FMDV vaccines.

Keywords

• fmd
• fmdv
• nsp
• 3abc
• developed 3abc-elisa