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Journal of Clinical Microbiology, Jan 1995, 79-84, Vol 33, No. 1
Copyright © 1995 by the American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.

Detection of foot-and-mouth disease virus-infected cattle by assessment of antibody response in oropharyngeal fluids

IL Archetti, M Amadori, A Donn, J Salt and E Lodetti
Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale della Lombardia e dell'Emilia, Brescia, Italy.

The detection of foot-and-mouth disease virus (FMDV)-persistent carriers among convalescent ruminants is of paramount importance in the aftermath of a field outbreak. To this purpose, FMDV-specific antibody should be investigated first, since virus isolation procedures from such carriers are seriously constrained. The complexity of the overall picture may be compounded by possible emergency vaccinations in the affected areas at the beginning of the outbreak. In this case, it is suggested that mucosal rather than serum antibody be investigated. In fact, we showed that FMDV-infected cattle regularly mount an antibody response in oropharyngeal fluids, in contrast to vaccinated cattle. Antibody could be revealed by neutralization assays and/or an immunoglobulin A (IgA)-specific kinetic enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Cattle vaccinated once seldom showed a mucosal antibody response, which could be only detected by a total immunoglobulin- specific kinetic ELISA. Very few, if any, cattle showed a mucosal IgA response after repeated vaccinations. Our kinetic, IgA-specific ELISA generally allowed an early detection of FMDV-infected cattle; in particular, it proved to be more sensitive than the usual indirect, antigen-trapping ELISA in experiments on saliva samples.