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Abstract
Foot-and-mouth disease is a highly contagious disease of cloven hooved animals. In
cattle, both acute and long-term persistent infections occur. Foot-and-mouth disease
virus (FMDV), a picornavirus, has been shown, using virus isolation procedures, to
replicate in the pharynx and soft palate of cattle. In this study, in situ hybridization
has been used to detect FMDV RNA within the cells of tissues removed from infected
bovines. A digoxigenin-labelled anti-sense RNA probe was prepared corresponding to
a region of the FMDV genome encoding part of the RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (3D).
The efficacy and specificity of this probe for in situ hybridisation was determined
using virus-infected cells in tissue culture. Strong cytoplasmic staining was only
detected in FMDV-infected cells. Various tissue samples were collected from FMDV-infected
cattle between 5 and 17 days post-infection. Viral RNA was detected by in situ hybridisation
within cells of the soft palate, tonsil and pharynx up to 17 days post-infection.
This technique is useful for the study of FMDV localization in cattle both during
and after the acute clinical phase of disease and may assist in identifying specific
sites of virus persistence.