Molecular biological characteristics of foot-and-mouth disease virus in the African buffalo in southern Africa.

doi:10.4102/ojvr.v81i2.728 http://www.ojvr.org Authors: Christopher J. Kasanga1 Rahana Dwarka2 Gaothlele Thobokwe3 Jemma Wadsworth4 Nick J. Knowles4 Misheck Mulumba5 Ezekia Ranga6 Jimis Deve11 Cornelius Mundia10 Patrick Chikungwa8 Laureta Joao9 Raphael Sallu7 Mmeta Yongolo7 Philemon N. Wambura1 Mark M. Rweyemamu1 Donald P. King4 Affiliations: 1Southern African Centre for Infectious Diseases Surveillance, Sokoine University of Agriculture, Tanzania 2Onderstepoort Veterinary Institute, University of Pretoria, South Africa 3Botswana Vaccine Institute, Botswana 4WRLFMD, The Pirbright Institute, United Kingdom 5Southern African Development Community Secretariat, Botswana 6Ministry of Livestock Development and Fisheries, Tanzania 7Tanzania Veterinary Laboratory Agency, Tanzania 8Southern African Development Community, Transboundary Animal Diseases Section, Malawi 9Southern African Development Community, Transboundary Animal Diseases Section, Angola 10Southern African Development Community, Transboundary Animal Diseases Section, Zambia 11Southern African Development Community, Transboundary Animal Diseases Section, Mozambique Foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) is endemic in most countries in southern Africa. African buffaloes (Syncerus caffer) are known to play a significant role in the transmission and dynamics of FMD virus (FMDV) in wildlife-livestock interface areas. The aim of this study was to investigate the serotype and determine the genetic relationships of FMDV recovered from animals in Tanzania, Zambia and Mozambique, and compare them with viruses detected from elsewhere in the subSaharan region. A total of 150 oesophageal-pharyngeal (probang) samples collected in 2010 from cattle and buffaloes in Marromeu (Mozambique), Katavi (Tanzania) and Lochninvar (Zambia) National Parks were used in this study. The presence of FMDV was determined by laboratory methods such as VI, antigen ELISA and real-time RT-PCR. Phylogenies of VP1 sequences were determined by the neighbour-joining method. The overall FMDV genome detection rate was 6.7% (n = 10), with SAT 1 being the most frequent serotype (60%; n = 6) isolated in cattle and buffaloes in Mozambique, Tanzania and Zambia followed by SAT 3 (30%; n = 3) and SAT 2 (10%; n = 1). Genotyping showed that type SAT 1 viruses fell into either the TOPOTYPE 1 (NWZ) or UNASSIGNED topotypes, type SAT 2 into the AFRICA topotype I and type SAT 3s into topotype IV (SEZ). This study reveals that serotypes SAT 1–3 are maintained in cattle and buffaloes in livestock-wildlife interface areas in Marromeu, Katavi, and Lochinvar National Parks. Phylogenetic analysis of FMDV isolates from Tanzania, Zambia and Mozambique showed that they are genetically related to lineages and topotypes from Africa. This information contributes to the understanding of the epidemiology of FMD in southern Africa. In Mozambique, Tanzania and Zambia, lack of consistent surveillance systems and animal movement controls make it difficult to determine the exact source of FMD and transmission dynamics of FMDV. Further studies are needed to elucidate the complex epidemiology of FMD in Africa.