Development and comparison of genome detection assays for the diagnosis of foot-and-mouth disease suspected clinical samples.

Detection of foot-and-mouth disease virus (FMDV) from clinical specimens by conventional sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and virus isolation in cell culture is often compromised owing to limited sensitivity and inactivation during transit, respectively. A RT-PCR (oligoprobing) ELISA in both solid and aqueous phase hybridization formats targeting an across serotype conserved site at 3C-3D region was developed and its effectiveness was compared with that of the known targets at the IRES region. A non-isotopic RNA dot hybridization assay with colorimetric detection targeting both the IRES and the 3D region were also validated, which is capable of handling high throughput samples with ease.

Development and evaluation of a multiplex PCR for differentiation of foot-and-mouth disease virus strains native to India.

A multiplex PCR (mPCR) for the differentiation of Indian FMDV serotypes, O, A, Asia 1 and C was developed and evaluated on 142 clinical and 39 cell culture samples. On the latter samples both the tests worked well with 100% efficiency, whereas on clinical samples mPCR had better efficiency than ELISA. The test was found to be specific for FMDV.