Isolation and Molecular Characterization of Circulating Foot and Mouth Disease Virus in Egypt During 2018-2020

Abstract

Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) is a contagious viral disease with high economic losses and primary animal health concerns. FMDV type SAT2 is endemic in Egypt since 2012. This work aimed to characterize the circulating FMDV SAT2 strains genetically in Egypt from 2018 to 2020. A total of 209 vesicular fluids and tongue epithelium were collected from infected cattle and buffaloes in Sharkia, Ismailia, and Dakhlia provinces. All samples were examined by real-time PCR and conventional PCR for FMDV using pan- serotype and serotype-specific primers targeting the VP1 region. Out of 209 samples, 45 infected animals were positive for FMDV SAT2 virus, 29 cattle (21.5%), and 16 buffaloes (13.6%). No FMDV serotype A or O were detected. The highest prevalence of FMDV SAT2 was observed in Sharkia province with a percentage of 10% followed by Ismailia and Dakhlia with a rate of 2.9 and 0.9%, respectively. Three FMDV SAT2 positive samples represented as Sharkia 2018 and Sharkia 2019 and Ismailia 2020 were selected for sequencing and phylogenetic analysis of VP1. Sequencing and phylogenetic analysis of VP1of the three Egyptian strains demonstrated that these strains are closely related to other Egyptian strains in gene bank as Alex 2018 (MK4933346), Ismailia 2018 (MK4933341), and Menofia 2018 (MT199283) with homology ranged from 95.8 to 98.2%. Phylogenetic tree of FMDV SAT2 showed clustering of Sharkia 2018, Sharkia 2019, and Ismailia 2020 with Libya 2012 topotype VII with three amino acid substitutions at the site 24, 28, and 52.