Establishing a Specific qPCR Assay for Detecting Middle Eastern O Serotype Foot-and-Mouth Disease Virus (FMDV)

The Middle East is one of the main regions under threat of contracting Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD). Indeed, Israel and the Palestinian Territory suffered in the last years from several outbreaks. The FMD viruses responsible for the Middle Eastern outbreaks were predominantly associated with O serotype. Phylogenetic data has indicated that viruses are introduced to the area from different regions, ranging from the Arabian peninsula to the Indian sub-continent. Accurate and rapid identification of the infectious pathogen is essential in endemic areas such as the Middle-East to enable a proper response to combat the disease. In recent years the use of qPCR has become a common practice in the diagnosis of FMDV. A qRT-PCR assay has been developed permitting the discrimination between past and recent Middle Eastern FMDV O type, and the other 6 FMDV serotypes. Moreover, the developed assay, beside, the ability to detect existing strains will probably be able to identify new infecting strains of virus.