With the spotlight on African swine fever (ASF) and other foreign animal diseases across the globe, the USDA has awarded University of Minnesota researchers nearly $1.5 million to improve the surveillance and detection of foreign animal disease (FAD) and develop a rapid field test to detect foot-and-mouth disease (FMD).
FAD Current Practices
Surveillance of FAD in the U.S. relies on producers and practitioners to use their best judgment to gather and send suspect samples to USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) approved labs. As of January 2022, there are 49 APHIS-approved testing locations in the country.
Proposed FAD Detection Strategies
Enhanced Passive Surveillance (EPS) will be added to swine farms, encompassing three different field-based, point-of-need diagnostic tests for suspected FAD cases. This will help gather the most accurate results as quickly as possible, according to a University of Minnesota Swine News release.
Field testing will also be used in real-world situations at ASF-infected locations. In addition, the same surveillance will be used to monitor Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome virus in Minnesota. These field tests will help measure the success of the EPS techniques and ensure the process is effective.
Researchers say the ultimate goal is to decrease the time between introduction of the disease and the first confirmed case in an effort to enhance the national capacity for early detection to mitigate the effects of outbreaks, the release said.
This study will be conducted over a two-year period that began Jan. 1.
FMD Rapid Field Test
A highly contagious vesicular disease affecting cloven-hoofed animals, FMD reduces livestock productivity, including slower animal weight gain, decreased milk production, miscarriages and increased mortality in young calves and pigs. Economic losses of up to $21 billion plague areas where FMD is endemic, including portions of South America, Africa, the Middle East and Asia. In the case of a U.S. outbreak, closure of foreign borders to U.S. livestock exports could occur.
Much like FAD detection, quick discovery of the disease is essential, yet current testing practices require samples be sent to diagnostic labs.
Researchers led by Sunil Mor in the Department of Veterinary Population Medicine aim to develop an easy-to-use, accessible molecular diagnostic field test that would produce results in 30 minutes.
Test results from this 30-minute test, to be called “FMDsure” will display easy to interpret positive, negative, or non-conclusive results. Researchers plan to access the test’s sensitivity against current diagnostic lab tests being used for the disease.
Using loop-mediated isothermal amplification technology, the rapid test will exhibit a “low-frills” and less expensive option to detect the disease quickly before and outbreak occurs, available to the average farmer and field veterinarian, the release said.
The project will also be conducted over a two-year period that began Jan. 1 and runs through December 2023.
