Rapid detection and isolation of Foot and Mouth Disease Virus in samples from clinically suspected animals in Egypt during 2016-2019.

Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) is a highly contagious and economically important disease of susceptible cloven-hoofed animals, mostly for cattle, buffalo and pigs. This study was designed to isolate and identify the serotypes of FMD virus from clinically suspected animals in different localities in Egypt that would be useful to detect the current strains present in Egypt to be used in the future vaccination program. Tongue epithelium, vesicular fluid and heart tissue samples were collected from FMDV clinically suspected cases representing four different governorates in Egypt (Qalubia, Sharkia, Gharbia and Behera). We found that 32 from 45 submitted samples showed positive result in real time RT-PCR and about 26 of these positive samples were isolated on BHK-21 cells giving overt cytopathic effect of the virus. The isolated viruses were identified and serotyped using antigen detection ELISA and RT-PCR that confirmed the three different serotypes A, O and SAT2 with different ratio for their prevalence in Egypt. We found that SAT2 was the predominant circulating serotype in the field, followed by serotype O and serotype A. Hence, this work demonstrates the co-occurrence of three different FMDV serotypes in Egypt. Consequently, further molecular analyses are recommended to confirm these findings to determine the molecular epidemiology of the isolates and to update the nature of future vaccine strains for successful preventive strategies.