Molecular Surveillance of Foot-and-Mouth disease virus in Egypt during period of 2023-2025

Foot and mouth disease viruses cause severe economic losses. Surveillance of circulating serotypes and subtypes in Egypt is crucial. This study aims to identify the serotypes of the FMD virus circulating in Egypt during the period of 2023-2024. Forty-eight samples from vesicular epithelium and oropharyngeal swabs were collected and screened for FMDV infection using RT-PCR with universal primers (19 positive samples from 48 samples) and screening qRT-PCR with universal primers and probe (20 positive samples from 48 samples). Serotype-specific RT-PCR with primers for O, A, and SAT2 were performed on all positive samples (n=20). The samples showed two positive results, showing faint bands for serotypes O and SAT2 appeared while the other 12 samples were unable to be typed. That was probably due to mild clinical signs on animals, suggesting effective vaccination programs in the country. Also, it minimizes number of infected cases and outbreaks during 2023-2024 compared to previous years. This correlates with the figure provided by the Central agency for public mobilization and statistics of Egypt.