Genome variation in the SAT types of foot-and-mouth disease viruses prevalent in buffalo (Syncerus caffer) in the Kruger National Park and other regions of southern Africa, 1986–93

Dideoxy nucleotide sequencing of a portion of the 1D gene of SAT-type foot-and-mouth disease viruses (FMDV) was used to derive phylogenetic relationships between viruses recovered from the oesophageo-pharyngeal secretions of buffalo in the Kruger National Park as well as several other wildlife areas in southern Africa. The three serotypes differed from one another by more than 40% while intratypic variation did not exceed 29%. Within each type, isolates from particular countries were more closely related to one another than to isolates from other countries lending credence to previous observations that FMDV evolve independently in different regions of the subcontinent.