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Abstract
A profiling ELISA was developed to detect antibody to the non-structural (NS) proteins
Lb, 2C, 3A, 3D, and the polyprotein 3ABC, of foot-and-mouth disease virus (FMDV).
The assay was used to examine panels of sera from naive cattle, and from experimentally
infected or vaccinated animals. All sera from cattle experimentally infected with
any of the seven serotypes of FMDV were positive for antibody to 2C, 3A, 3D and 3ABC,
and the majority were positive for Lb. The three categories of sera could be differentiated
on the basis of the presence or absence of antibody to the structural and/or NS proteins
of FMDV. The assay is simple, rapid and reproducible and can be used to identify previous
infection in animals which are seropositive for antibody to the structural proteins
of the virus. Validating the assay with field sera demonstrated that antibody to 3ABC,
and usually one or more of the other non-structural proteins, was detected only in
animals reported to have shown clinical signs of FMD. Vaccinated cattle which had
received less than five vaccinations, were frequently positive for antibody to 3D
but were negative for antibody to 3ABC. Occasional animals which had received more
than ten vaccinations had NS protein antibody profiles which were similar to those
seen following infection.