Detection of antibody to the foot-and-mouth disease virus (FMDV) non-structural polyprotein 3ABC in sheep by ELISA

The specificity and sensitivity of an ELISA for detecting IgG to the 3ABC non-structural protein of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) virus was evaluated in FMD naïve, aerosol-infected, aerosol plus direct contact infected and field-exposed sheep. All 12 sheep that were experimentally infected without prior vaccination seroconverted in the test, although fewer field sera from FMD-exposed sheep were scored seropositive compared to test results for structural protein antibodies. The 3ABC test specificity was 98 or 100% according to whether sera reacting in the doubtful range were scored as positive or negative. The test was then used to investigate the antibody response of sheep vaccinated against FMD and exposed to the virus by an aerosol challenge 4–14 days later. The response of individual animals varied. Whether immunised with high or low doses of vaccine, the development of 3ABC antibody was most likely in sheep from which live virus was recovered at or beyond 9 days post-challenge. Non-structural responses were also more frequent in animals from which multiple incidences of live FMD virus isolation (perhaps more indicative of true virus replication) were demonstrated.