Environmental Sampling Using Shoe Booties for the Detection of Foot and Mouth Disease Virus in Animal Pens

The consequences of foot and mouth disease (FMD) outbreaks in non-endemic countries are devastating. Early detection and confirmation of foot and mouth disease virus (FMDV) are critical for controlling outbreaks. Diagnostic sampling currently uses direct sampling of suspected animals, including swabs and/or vesicular fluid. In the event of an FMD outbreak, there is limited veterinary capacity to sample all animals in the control zones. Thus, environmental sampling methods (shoe booties, ropes, and environmental swabs) were assessed and compared to direct animal sampling for experimentally infected cattle and swine. Environmental sampling methods such as shoe booties were sufficient to identify FMDV by reverse transcription quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR) and nanopore sequencing, similarly to oral swabs collected from animals. Furthermore, a loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP)-based point-of-care test produced by ZiP Diagnostics was able to rapidly detect FMDV from clinical and environmental samples with Cq values of 30 or less. This study demonstrates a proof of concept that shoe booties can be used to detect FMDV in animal pens prior to the onset of clinical signs in animals. The use of shoe booties for surveillance sampling of non-clinical animals on multiple premises in a given zone would increase operational capacity and enable earlier detection for a faster response to FMD outbreaks.