Detection of foot-and-mouth disease virus and identifi cation of serotypes in East Azerbaijan province of Iran

Three serotypes of foot-and-mouth disease virus (FMDV) including A, Asia1 and O, have been detected in Iran. Following the mass vaccination program which was implemented in all parts of the country in 2002, the number of outbreaks has been significantly reduced. Therefore, rapid detection of FMDV and its serotypes in clinical samples is essential for control of new outbreaks. In this study a reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) was used for detection and serotyping of FMDV in clinical samples. Twelve tissue samples were collected from suspected outbreaks from East Azerbaijan province and tested by this method. Of 12 samples, 10 were found to be positive for FMDV. These samples were also tested in a multiplex-PCR for serotype identification. Four samples showed to be serotype O, 4 samples identified as serotype A and 2 samples detected to be serotype Asia 1. Multiplex-PCR products were sequenced and specificity of results was confirmed. Results indicate that in order to practice a good control measure, the RT-PCR and multiplex-PCR could be successfully used as a robust diagnostic method.