Strategy for Novel Vaccine and Antivirals Against Foot-and-Mouth Disease

ABSTRACT

Foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) is a highly contagious, virally induced disease of cloven-hoofed animals. FMD-affected countries have suffered from a serious economic impact due to their decreased participation in the international livestock trade. Currently, disease control measures include inhibition of susceptible animal movement, slaughter of infected and susceptible in-contact animals, disinfection, and vaccination with an inactivated whole virus antigen. Researchers have attempted to develop new FMD vaccines to overcome the limitations of the current inactivated vaccine as well as new antivirals to more rapidly induce a protective response. In this study, we discuss the most effective novel FMD vaccines and antiviral strategies that are currently being studied. The vaccine research using subunits, synthetic peptides, DNA, cytokine-enhanced DNA, recombinant empty capsids, chimeric viruses, genetically engineered attenuated viruses, recombinant viral vectors, self-replicating DNA and transgenic plants expressing virus proteins is part of a trend towards novel FMD vaccine development. The antiviral methods using RNA interference (RNAi), RNAi-based recombinant adenoviruses and L(pro) or 3D(pol) inhibitors represent the current replication-inhibiting medicine used to control FMD.