FMD_ImproCon: Improvement of foot and mouth disease control by ethically acceptable methods based on scientifically validated assays and new knowledge on FMD vaccines, including the impact of vaccina

• Research unit: EU RFP
• Project number: 03.0519

Key words (English)

Foot-and-mouth disease; marker vaccines/tests; vaccine selection; assay validation; FMD control

Alternative project number (English)

EU project number: 503603

Research programs (English)

EU-programme: 6. Frame Research Programme - 1.8.1 Policy-orientated research

Short description (English)

See abstract

Further information (English)

Full name of research-institution/enterprise:
Bundesamt für Veterinärwesen BVET
Institut für Viruskrankheiten u. Immunprophylaxe IVI
Sektion Immunologie

Abstract (English)

There is a strong desire to reduce reliance on large-scale culling of animals to control future outbreaks of FMD in EU Member States. As an alternative. it is proposed to use emergency vaccination and then to screen for residual infection using tests for antibodies to the non-structural proteins of FMD virus. It is intended to amend the policy on FMD control to enable such an approach to be used in the very near future. In reality. this means that current contingencies must be based on the use of existing vaccines. Therefore, this project seeks to address the specific gaps in our knowledge and technological ability with respect to implementation of a vaccinate-to-live policy. The availability of adequate discriminatory diagnostic tests is the keystone of the new EU FMD control policy. The project is focused on the validation of NSP-based tests to discriminate unequivocally between infected and vaccinated animals. in order to allow the implementation of the new policy in the immediate term. Validation of existing and new NSP tests as confirmatory tests will be a major output of this project. The experimental design will also provide expected outputs in the field of the impact of vaccination on the carrier state and on virus dissemination, the onset of vaccine-induced protection, vaccine potency in relation to emergency use, vaccine strain selection and new marker vaccines. Therein, the immunological profile associated with efficacious vaccines will be developed. Conventional and marker vaccines from the project will be targeted to dendritic cell, important due to the critical role of these cells in immune response development. Particular attention will be paid to promoting dendritic cell mucosal homing. The aim here will be vaccine-induced mucosal immunity to prevent local FMDV infection and inapparent infection in vaccinates.

References in databases (English)

Swiss Database: Euro-DB of the
State Secretariat for Education and Research
Hallwylstrasse 4
CH-3003 Berne, Switzerland
Tel. [phone]
Swiss Project-Number: 03.0519