Session III Ensuring the safe transfer of virus-positive diagnostic material is an important concern for FMD field studies. It has been proposed that the complex and expensive shipping requirements for infectious material should not apply to acid-treated FMDV-positive lateral flow devices (LFDs). The treatment with citric acid demonstrably abolishes virus infectivity, but it has been shown that acid-treated LFDs still contain full-length FMDV RNA that allows the subsequent recovery of infectious virus by chemical transfection of cell cultures. Whether full-length FMDV RNA alone can cause a productive infection in the natural host, however, has not been explored.

1. EuFMD
OS22 Full-length FMDV RNA is
infectious for cattle
by injection
Hanna Keck, Benedikt Litz, Bernd Hoffmann, Martin Beer,
Michael Eschbaumer

2. #OS22
Digitalization and innovation applied to the prevention and control of
foot-and-mouth and similar transboundary animal diseases (FAST) OS22 2
● FMDV RNA was extracted from a
virus culture and confirmed to be
free of infectious virus particles
● In the first experiment, six cattle
were injected with the FMDV RNA
into the tongue without
transfection reagent
● In the second experiment, another
group of six cattle was exposed to
the RNA non-invasively, by
dripping it onto the tongue and
spraying it into the nose, without
transfection reagent
Michael Eschbaumer
FMDV RNA is infectious for cattle by injection

3. #OS22
Digitalization and innovation applied to the prevention and control of
foot-and-mouth and similar transboundary animal diseases (FAST) OS22 3
● Six of six cattle in the first
experiment developed generalized
FMD within 24 to 48 hours of
inoculation
● After nasal and oral deposition of
FMDV RNA, all six cattle in the
second experiment remained
healthy for the duration of the
experiment and no virus shedding
was detected
Michael Eschbaumer
FMDV RNA is infectious for cattle by injection

4. #OS22
Digitalization and innovation applied to the prevention and control of
foot-and-mouth and similar transboundary animal diseases (FAST) OS22 4
Michael Eschbaumer
FMDV RNA is infectious for cattle by injection
● Full-length genomic RNA of
FMDV is infectious for cattle
when it is injected into the
tongue
● Non-invasive nasal and oral
deposition of FMDV RNA did not
lead to infection
● The risk of contagion from
properly inactivated diagnostic
samples containing full-length
FMDV RNA is very low

5. Thank you !..
www.fli.de
michael.eschbaumer@fli.de