Surveillance of livestock and their environment for the presence of the foot and mouth disease (FMD) virus is an important part of preventing FMD outbreaks, according to The Pirbright Institute in the U.K.

FMD creates a socioeconomic burden for the farming industry and smallholder or subsistence farmers alike.

Researchers at The Pirbright Institute have developed a new method that makes FMD virus detection easier, even when susceptible animals are not showing clinical signs, according to an announcement.

The new technique requires little expertise, as swabs can be taken from areas within the farm environment where FMD susceptible animals — i.e., cattle, sheep, goats and pigs — commonly make contact, such as water troughs. This makes the sampling method far more accessible, allowing a higher frequency of samples to be collected and processed during an outbreak, Pirbright said.

Dr. Claire Colenutt, who led the research at Pirbright, said, “Current surveillance methods rely on the recognition of FMD infection in susceptible animals, in addition to the collection of samples from the animals, which requires veterinary expertise. In keeping the [newly developed] approach simple, samples can be taken by individuals without prior expertise, increasing the number of potential samples and relieving pressure on veterinary services.”

In this study, results of which were published in Applied & Environmental Microbiology, the samples were taken from a variety of different environmental surfaces where livestock had been kept from 24 smallholder farms in the Kathmandu Valley of Nepal. The swabs were then shipped back to Pirbright for testing, where scientists were able to detect viral genetic material in positive samples, the institute reported.

The FMD virus is able to survive for long periods of time in the environment in the right conditions -- up to three months, depending on environmental factors such as pH, temperature and relative humidity -- so sampling areas where infected animals may have shed virus allows scientists to detect the presence of FMD, even if the animals on the farm are no longer showing clinical signs, Pirbright said.

This is equally important in areas that have an FMD-free status as well as those where FMD is endemic, such as parts of Asia, Africa and the Middle East. Novel surveillance techniques can help support a robust response to outbreaks in FMD-free countries but can also be implemented in endemic countries as part of surveillance programs to supplement current information about the spread of FMD, the institute suggested.

In the future, the researchers hope to be able to combine swabbing with the use portable diagnostic tools to enable rapid detection of FMD virus in the field.