Calf thyroid tissue cultures were found to be the most sensitive system in detecting virus collected in a large volume air sampler from boxes, where cattle, sheep and pigs infected with A and C strains of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) virus were housed. It was confirmed with all strains of FMD virus tested that pigs excreted the most virus followed by cattle and sheep, but there was variation between strains, the highest virus recoveries being obtained from animals infected with O(1) and C Noville viruses. The results are discussed in relation to outbreaks of foot-and-mouth disease in Great Britain since 1954.

Possible origins of an epidemic of bluetongue in Cyprus in August 1977 have been analysed. First outbreaks occurred simultaneously in the south-east of the Famagusta district and on the north coast of the Kyrenia district respectively. Although the epidemic was due to type 4, which had been responsible for the previous outbreak in 1969, no evidence of persistence of virus could be found. Imports of domestic animals in the past year were not implicated since the imported cattle were introduced only to the southern part and not to the northern part of the island. Easterly, north-easterly and northerly winds during the period 11–14 August could have brought infected midges at a height of 0.5–1.5 km from Syria and Turkey, and such a movement would fit well the dates of the first outbreaks (20–25 August). Temperatures at a height of 1.5 km were 20–25 °C and at 0.5 km 30–35 °C, and with wind speeds 10–20 km h−1 the distance from Turkey and Syria would have been covered in 5–20 h. It follows that, in addition to surface winds, winds at all levels warm enough for flight should be taken into account when the possibility of disease spread by windborne midges is being assessed.

SUMMARYSampling of human subjects, who had been in contact with animals infected with foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) virus, showed that virus could be recovered from the nose, throat, saliva and from air expelled during coughing, sneezing, talking and breathing. The amounts of virus recovered paralleled those collected with a large-volume sampler and multistage impinger and these findings confirmed that the highest recovery of airborne virus was from infected pigs followed by cattle and sheep. More virus was found in the noses of those examining infected animals than in those operating the samplers, but there was variation between the subjects. In the majority there was a 1x8 log fall in titre by 3-5 hr., but virus persisted in the nose of one subject for 28 hr. Nose blowing or washing the nostrils did not remove virus completely, nor were cloth or industrial masks completely effective in preventing inhalation of virus. It was possible to transmit virus from infected subjects to others on one occasion. No clinical cases of FMD in man resulted from exposure, nor was there any rise in antibody. Use was made of these findings in determining sites of aerosol excretion in animals, and the results are discussed in relation to FMD in man and to the spread of respiratory viruses by the airborne route.

After exposure for two hours to cattle with foot-and-mouth disease, each of the five species of deer found in the British countryside became infected. Clinical disease was typical and severe in the roe and muntjac deer, with some animals dying, less severe in the sika deer and usually subclinical in the fallow and red deer. Each species transmitted disease to its own species and to cattle and sheep. The amounts of virus present in the blood, and in oesophageal/pharyngeal samples and excreted as an aerosol during the course of the infection in the deer were similar to those recorded for the sheep and cattle in the same experiment. The fallow and sika deer commonly carried virus in the pharynx beyond 28 days after exposure; some red deer also became carriers. In epidemics of foot-and-mouth disease in the UK, it is likely that deer would have such intimate contact with farm animals as occurred in this study. The natural behavior of free-living deer in the UK suggests that, although the five species are susceptible to foot-and-mouth disease, they are unlikely to be an important factor in the maintenance and transmission of the virus during an epidemic of foot-and-mouth disease in domestic livestock.

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