Abstract

The study was conducted in three regional states of Ethiopia: Amhara, Oromia, and Addis Ababa with the aims of identifying the molecular epidemiology of Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) virus in Ethiopia and to determine the appropriate vaccine strains of FMD virus. From the total of 33 bovine epithelial tissue cultured samples, 19 (57.57%) samples were showed cytopatic effect for FMD virus. Of these, three samples were found serotype A and Africa topotype and 16 samples were found serotype O and East Africa-3 topotype. Certain FMD isolates were characterized by two dimensional virus neutralization test (2dmVNT) and liquid phase block ELISA (LPBE) in order to choose an appropriate vaccine strain found at World Reference Laboratory for FMD (WRLFMD). The result indicates that most vaccine strains found at WRLFMD can protect against serotype O of Ethiopian isolates, while serotype A has highest antigenic variation and only few vaccine strains found at WRLFMD can provide protection. Various strains of foot and mouth disease virus (FMDV) were isolated in Ethiopia and therefore, continuous monitoring of newly emerging strains is necessary to perform vaccine matching studies to support the efficacy of actual vaccine formulations.

Key words: Ethiopia, foot and mouth disease virus (FMD), phylogeny, vaccine match, serotype, topotype.