Emergency response for recently isolated Foot and Mouth Disease virus type A Africa in Egypt 2022
Mohamed Samy Abousenna, Heba A. Khafagy, Amal Abd El Moneim Mohamed, Sara E.A. El Sawy, Fady Abd El Mohsen Shasha, Darwish Mahmoud Darwish, Nermeen G. Shafik
Abstract
Foot and mouth disease (FMD) is a highly contagious viral infection affecting cloven-hoofed ruminants, leading to significant economic losses. In 2022, Egypt faced a severe outbreak of Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) caused by the A/Africa/G-IV variant. This study assessed the efficacy of local and imported FMDV vaccines (A Iran-05 lineage) against this new variant using in vitro and in vivo methods. Sera from vaccinated calves showed inadequate cross-protection, with mean r1-values of 0.235 and 0.243 for local and imported vaccines, respectively. Challenge tests indicated low protection levels (20% and 40%) against A/Africa/G-IV compared with A/Iran/05. Current vaccines were deemed ineffective, prompting a formulation update incorporating the variant. The modified vaccine is now deployed in proactive vaccination efforts to address the evolving FMD outbreak.