Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD)

- Diagnosis

Accurate diagnosis is crucial for FMD control. Since several vesicular diseases resemble FMD (e.g., vesicular stomatitis), laboratory confirmation is necessary.

Field diagnosis

Field diagnosis may rely on clinical signs and epidemiological context, but confirmation requires laboratory testing to ensure appropriate response and notification to authorities.

Laboratory Methods:

• Virus isolation in cell culture.
• Reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) for rapid detection.
• Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for antigen and antibody detection.
• Serotyping to identify the specific virus involved.