Read the
magazine
story to find out more.
|
![Photo: Infrared image of a cow infected with foot-and-mouth-disease. Link to photo information](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/web/20090509201553im_/http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/graphics/photos/apr09/d1393-1i.jpg)
Infrared images make it faster and easier to
detect cows that have foot-and-mouth disease by picking up elevated
temperatures in the hooves of infected cows (showing as red on the infected cow
on the top ). Click the image for more information about it.
|
![Photo: Infrared image of a cow not infected with foot-and-mouth-disease. Link to photo information](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/web/20090509201553im_/http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/graphics/photos/apr09/d1394-1i.jpg)
Click the image for more information about
it.
|
![For further reading](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/web/20090509201553im_/http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/graphics/For-further-reading.gif)
|
Technologies Improve FMD Detection and Control
By Laura
McGinnis
April 23, 2009 Improving the detection and control of
foot and mouth disease (FMD) in cattle could result from technology being
developed and tested by Agricultural Research
Service (ARS) scientists.
The United States hasn't had an outbreak of FMD since 1929, but being
prepared for an outbreak is a priority for the U.S. government.
One study used infrared cameras to detect elevated hoof temperatures, a
symptom of FMD in cattle. That work was conducted by research leader
Luis
Rodriguez, microbiologist
Juan
Pacheco and research fellow Kaitlin Rainwater-Lovett with ARS at the
Plum
Island Animal Disease Center at Orient Point, N.Y., in collaboration with
University of Minnesota
biologist Craig Packer.
Infrared technology could detect elevated temperatures up to two days before
cattle develop clinical signs. Cheaper and faster than existing screening
methods, this technology could allow scientists and veterinarians to identify
potentially infected cattle in large groups, without examining animals
individually.
The ARS scientists have also collaborated with the biotechnology company
Tetracore to develop a test that can
detect RNA from the FMD virus in less than two hours. In the event of an FMD
emergency, laboratories throughout the United States could use this technology
to diagnose samples rapidly.
In related work, ARS chemist
Marvin
Grubman and his colleagues are making improvements to the FMD vaccine they
developed. The vaccine can be produced without using infectious FMD materials,
which means it can be produced on the U.S. mainland without the need for
expensive, high-containment production facilities.
Tests have shown that the vaccine becomes effective a mere seven days after
it's been administered. Although this is one of the fastest vaccines available,
Grubman and his colleagues wanted faster protection. After all, a lot can
happen in seven days, particularly during an outbreak. In a recent study,
Grubman found that proteins called interferons can offer protection while
animals are developing an antibody response to the vaccine, increasing their
resistance.
ARS, the U.S. Department of Homeland
Security and biopharmaceutical company GenVec, Inc., in Gaithersburg, Md., are now
collaborating to develop the new FMD vaccine for inclusion in the U.S.
Veterinary Vaccine Stockpile. They are also working to combine the interferons
and the FMD vaccine so they can be administered concurrently.
Read
more about this research in the April 2009 issue of Agricultural
Research magazine.
ARS is the principal intramural scientific research agency of the
U.S. Department of Agriculture.