In this study, we carried out experimental infections in cattle and goats with a foot-and-mouth disease virus (FMDV) isolate from the 2010 epidemic in Japan, in order to analyse clinical manifestations, virus-shedding patterns, and antibody responses in the animals. We found that the FMDV O/JPN/2010 isolate is virulent in cattle and goats, the host develops clinical signs, and the virus is efficiently spread by direct contact within the same host species. The virus is persistently infectious in cattle. Quantitative analyses of levels of viral RNA in the tissues of cattle and goats infected with the isolate showed that pharyngeal regions are important targets of the FMDV O/JPN/2010. Time course data of viral loads, excretion, and transmission of the FMDV O/JPN/2010 shown in this study are crucial quantitative data essential for epidemiological investigation and risk analyses in possible future FMD outbreaks elsewhere.
(Exotic Diseases Research Division)
References:
Onozato H. et al (2014) Arch. Virol. 159(11):2901-2908
