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A serological survey for antibodies against foot-and-mouth disease virus (FMDV) in domestic pigs during outbreaks in Kenya

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Abstract

Foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) is endemic in Kenya and has been well studied in cattle, but not in pigs, yet the role of pigs is recognised in FMD-free areas. This study investigated the presence of antibodies against FMD virus (FMDV) in pigs sampled during a countrywide random survey for FMD in cattle coinciding with SAT 1 FMDV outbreaks in cattle. A total of 191 serum samples were collected from clinically healthy pigs in 17 districts. Forty-two of the 191 sera were from pigs vaccinated against serotypes O/A/SAT 2 FMDV. Antibodies against FMDV non-structural proteins were found in sera from 30 vaccinated and 71 non-vaccinated pigs, altogether 101/191 sera (53 %), and 91 % of these (92/101) also had antibodies measurable by serotype-specific ELISAs, predominantly directed against SAT 1 with titres of 10–320. However, only five high titres against SAT 1 in vaccinated pigs were confirmed by virus neutralisation test (VNT). Due to high degree of agreement between the two ELISAs, it was concluded that positive pigs had been infected with FMDV. Implications of these results for the role of pigs in the epidemiology of FMD in Kenya are discussed, and in-depth studies are recommended.

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Acknowledgments

We thank the Director of Veterinary Services (DVS) Kenya, Dr. Peter Ithondeka, for his support; veterinary epidemiology unit, Kabete, and Dr. Harry Oyas and Dr. Peter Wanzala for epidemiological data and analysis; Dr. Kenneth Ketter, Dr. Eunice Chepkwony and the FMDL-Embakasi staff for their support; Jane Borch and Jani Christiansen, NVI-DTU Lindholm, for their technical assistance; Teddy Ochieng and Margaret Mwangi, USAID, Kenya, for maps; and Dr. Chrisostom Ayebazibwe and Professor Graham Belsham and Professor Hans Siegismund for commenting. This work was co-funded by the European Union (EU) under the SERECU project and the Danish International Development Agency (DANIDA) under the TADEA project, DFC no. 10-006KU.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Foot-and-Mouth Disease Laboratory, Embakasi, P.O. Box 18021, 00500, Nairobi, Kenya

    Sabenzia N. Wekesa & Abraham K. Sangula

  2. Department of Environmental Management, College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, Makerere University, P.O. Box 7062/7298, Kampala, Uganda

    Sabenzia N. Wekesa, Moses T. Dhikusooka & Vincent B. Muwanika

  3. Department of Biotechnical and Diagnostic Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine, Animal Resources and Biosecurity, Makerere University, P.O. Box 7062, Kampala, Uganda

    Alice Namatovu

  4. National Animal Disease Diagnostics and Epidemiology Centre, Ministry of Agriculture Animal Industry and Fisheries, P.O. Box 513, Entebbe, Uganda

    Alice Namatovu & Moses T. Dhikusooka

  5. National Veterinary Institute, Technical University of Denmark, Lindholm, 4771, Kalvehave, Denmark

    Kirsten Tjørnehøj

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  1. Sabenzia N. Wekesa
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  2. Alice Namatovu
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  3. Abraham K. Sangula
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  4. Moses T. Dhikusooka
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  5. Vincent B. Muwanika
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  6. Kirsten Tjørnehøj
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Correspondence to Kirsten Tjørnehøj.

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Wekesa, S.N., Namatovu, A., Sangula, A.K. et al. A serological survey for antibodies against foot-and-mouth disease virus (FMDV) in domestic pigs during outbreaks in Kenya. Trop Anim Health Prod 46, 575–581 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11250-013-0530-0

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