A Comprehensive Review of the Immunological Response against Foot-and-Mouth Disease Virus Infection and Its Evasion Mechanisms

Abstract

Foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) is a highly contagious viral disease, which has been reported for over 100 years, and against which the struggle has lasted for the same amount of time. It affects individuals from the order Artiodactyla, such as cattle, swine, sheep, wild animals from this order, and a few non-cloven hoofed species, such as mice and elephants. FMD causes large-scale economic losses for agricultural production systems; morbidity is almost 100% in an affected population, accompanied by a high mortality rate in young animals due to myocarditis or an inability to suckle if a mother is ill. The aetiological agent is an Aphthovirus from the family Picornaviridae, having seven serotypes: A, O, C, SAT1, SAT2, SAT3, and Asia 1. Serotype variability means that an immune response is serospecific and vaccines are thus designed to protect against each serotype independently. A host’s adaptive immune response is key in defence against pathogens; however, this virus uses successful strategies (along with most microorganisms) enabling it to evade a host’s immune system to rapidly and efficiently establish itself within such host, and thus remain there. This review has been aimed at an in-depth analysis of the immune response in cattle and swine regarding FMD virus, the possible evasion mechanisms used by the virus and describing some immunological differences regarding these species. Such aspects can provide pertinent knowledge for developing new FMD control and prevention strategies.

Effect of Cattle-Specific Diseases on Carcass Inspection and Meat Quality

“…Foot and mouth disease (FMD) is a highly contagious viral disease of clovenhooved animals such as cattle [16]. FMD is caused by Aphthovirus, belonging to Picornaviridae family.…”

Nanovaccines against Animal Pathogens: The Latest Findings

“…After infection control, most immune cells die by apoptosis and a small percentage differentiate to memory T (Tmem) and memory B (Bmem) cells. The ability to remain in a host is characteristic of intracellular microorganisms; such persistence can be asymptomatic, putting a host at risk when the dormancy phase becomes reactivated [45,46]. There are two types of dormancy depending on the type of pathogen [33]; the first encompasses pathogens detected by the adaptative immune system which remain in a state of dormancy and which do not become completely eliminated from a host (e.g., M. tuberculosis [45] and S. enterica [47].…”

Antiviral Effect of Manganese against Foot-and-Mouth Disease Virus Both in PK15 Cells and Mice

“…Foot-and-mouth disease virus (FMDV) is the causative agent of FMD that can cause a significant epidemic disease threatening the livestock industry [ 1 ]. The FMDV has a broad host range of all cloven-hoofed animals including domestic and wild ruminants and pigs [ 2 ]. The FMDV is a member of the genus Aphthovirus of the family Picornaviridae, with a single-stranded positive-sense RNA genome.…”