Selection of foot and mouth disease vaccine strains--a review

The choice of the most appropriate strains of foot and mouth disease (FMD) virus vaccines to use in FMD control programmes and to store in vaccine antigen reserves is based on the matching of representative field isolates from outbreaks around the world to available vaccine strains. However, those involved in FMD control at a national level do not always give this work a high priority, while in countries without effective control of FMD there is little incentive to collect samples or to overcome the constraints on submission to international reference laboratories. In the short term, specific initiatives for targeted collection can provide samples on a periodic basis, but a long-term solution requires the development of FMD control measures. This must be underpinned by the strengthening of local Veterinary Services and laboratories, and by demand-driven provision of sufficient amounts of high-quality vaccine. Difficulties may be increased by commercial constraints on disclosure of the strains used for vaccine production and on the supply of reagents needed for matching tests. Vaccine matching tests are mainly based on in vitro methods - such as virus neutralisation, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay with polyclonal antibodies and complement fixation - and are performed in a relatively small number of laboratories around the world. In addition to the difficulties of gathering representative field and vaccine strains, neither the reagents nor the methods used for vaccine matching are fully harmonised. Consequently, there is no strict equivalence in the results obtained. Alternative approaches using monoclonal antibody panels and/or viral capsid gene sequencing are being developed and could complement the currently employed serological tests. However, there is limited in vivo cross-protection information, more of which is essential for future validation of the vaccine matching methods. In response to the funding and leadership deficit for vaccine strain selection, a network of World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) and Food and Agriculture Organization FMD reference laboratories has been established; this gives these laboratories the potential to strengthen the coordination of their work and reporting and thereby improve recommendations on vaccine strain selection.