Veterinary researchers identify primary route of infection for FMD in cattle

National Report— A new study by researchers at USDA's Plum Island Animal Disease Center and Colorado State University has traced the route of infection of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) virus.

The discovery could lead to the development of new vaccines that possibly eradicate FMD, according to USDA.

The researchers were able to track the virus after it infects epithelial cells in the nasopharynx just six hours after nasal passages are exposed. Virus-host interactions now will be analyzed to try and develop better vaccines and therapies to fight FMD infection, the study reports.

Read the full study, titled "The Early Pathogenesis of Foot-and-Mouth Disease in Cattle After Aerosol Inoculation: Identification of the Nasopharynx as the Primary Site of Infection" in the November 2010 issue of Veterinary Pathology.