There are a number of
diagnostic tests that can be used to verify a suspected case of Foot and Mouth
Disease.
Isolation
in Culture
A virus can be isolated from a fluid sample of an infected host via
amplification in culture. The isolate can then be studied and identified.
Although this test is quite sensitive it’s very time consuming, labor intensive
and requires a properly equipped facility. This can potentially pose a problem
in certain areas where facilities are unavailable, given that successful
disease management depends on rapid detection and rapid response.
ELISA
An enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay can detect the presence of antibodies
specific for antigens of the FMD virus. The results from this test can be used
to identify infected animals, however in some cases it can not distinguish
between antibodies produced in response to infection from those produced in
response to vaccination.
In such cases
Sandwich ELISA can be used to detect the presence of viral antigens, however,
because the sensitivity of this test is somewhat low, it is most commonly used
to verify any information acquired from a culture. It can also be used to
determine the serotype of the virus.
Real
Time RT-PCR
The Real Time Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction is a diagnostic
test which amplifies and detects specific DNA sequences of the virus if present
in a sample. Not only is this test quick and easy to perform but it’s favored
for its high level of specificity and sensitivity. In other words it does well
in detecting the presence of the virus even if the virus is present in tiny
amounts and it rarely mistakes one virus for another. One disadvantage to this
test is that not every facility is equipped with a RT-PCR machine.
