CONTRIBUTIONS FROM FAO REFERENCE LABORATORIES AND COLLABORATING CENTRES

FAO/OIE WORLD REFERENCE LABORATORY FOR FMD AND RINDERPEST,
PIRBRIGHT, UK.

FMD REPORT FOR JULY TO SEPTEMBER 1999

Samples received from Iran indicate outbreaks caused by serotypes Asia 1, O and A. Routine vaccination in Iran is against serotypes O and A and the Asia 1 outbreaks required immediate control by the veterinary authorities to keep them contained. It is thought likely that the virus was imported illegally with live animals from an eastern neighbour, where Asia 1 is endemic. There is concern that further illegal traffic in live animals could allow the virus to spread into Turkey or the Caucasus. A genetically new strain of serotype A is also present in Iran, different again from the Iran '96 strain. The new strain is also antigenically different from Iran '96 and will require the use of a homologous vaccine if it continues to cause outbreaks. Results are awaited from recent type A isolates received from Turkey, to show whether they are similar to Iran '96 or have been replaced by the new A strain from Iran.

There have been further outbreaks of SAT 1 and 2 in Burundi, reflecting much larger outbreaks of FMD in East Africa. Reports from Kenya indicate that there have been economically serious outbreaks of FMD, but no samples have been submitted to the World Reference Laboratory.

RINDERPEST AND PPR REPORT FOR JULY TO SEPTEMBER 1999

Country	Species	Disease	Diagnosis technique	Result
Yemen	Cattle	Rinderpest	PCR	-ve
Mozambique	Suni antelopes	Rinderpest/PPR	C-ELISA	-ve
Chad	Wildlife	Rinderpest/PPR	C-ELISA	-ve
Burkina Faso	Wildlife	Rinderpest/PPR	C-ELISA	1/13 PPR +ve
Central African Republic	Wildlife	Rinderpest/PPR	C-ELISA	2/122 PPR +ve
Bangladesh	Sheep/goats	PPR	PCR	+ve
Iran	Goats	PPR (vaccine)	Molecular characterization	Under way

TRAINING COURSES AT THE INSTITUTE OF ANIMAL HEALTH, PIRBRIGHT, EPIDEMIOLOGY DIVISION

The courses are aimed mainly at overseas scientists who wish to improve their knowledge of exotic virus diseases and thus extend their national diagnostic capabilities. They provide training in the principles and applications of more modern biotechnology. The lectures also form part of the post-graduate training programme. The following courses will be run at IAH on an annual basis.

Course Title:
Laboratory diagnosis of rinderpest, peste des petits ruminants (PPR) and bluetongue diseases

Date: February 2000

Scope of the Course:
The aim of the 4 week course is to provide training in laboratory techniques for the diagnosis of rinderpest, peste des petits ruminants (PPR) and bluetongue diseases. The course will provide specific training in:

Rinderpest and PPR:
- Clinical signs and epidemiology
- Collection and transport of samples
- Antigen detection by immunocapture ELISA
- Antibody detection by competitive ELISA
- Lectures on eradication strategy and current status

Bluetongue and epizootic haemorrhagic disease (EHD):
- Clinical signs and epidemiology
- Collection and transport of samples
- Virus isolation in eggs and tissue culture
- Antigen detection by immunocapture ELISA
- Antibody detection by competitive ELISA

Course Title:
ELISA techniques and cell cultures for foot and mouth disease, swine vesicular disease and vesicular stomatitis viruses

Date: May 2000

Scope of the Course:
The aim of the 4 week course is to provide training in ELISA and cell culture techniques for the diagnosis of foot and mouth disease (FMD), swine vesicular disease (SVD) and vesicular stomatitis (VS). The course will provide specific training in:
- ELISA principles and test optimisation
- Preparation of samples for both virus isolation and ELISA
- Tissue culture and virus isolation
- Sandwich ELISA for the detection of FMDV, SVDV and VSV antigens
- Competitive ELISA for detection of antibodies to SVDV
- Liquid-phase blocking ELISA for detection of antibodies to FMDV
- Discussions on the epidemiology and control of FMD

Course Title:
Application of RT-PCR for the diagnosis of foot and mouth disease (FMD) and rinderpest

Date: November 2000

Scope of the Course:
The aim of the 4 week course is to provide training in polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for the diagnosis of foot and mouth disease (FMD) and rinderpest. The course will provide specific training in:
- Principles of DNA replication
- Principles of PCR
- Preparation of samples for PCR
- Optimisation of PCR
- Confirmation of identity of PCR product
- PCR ELISA
- Discussions on the epidemiology and control of FMD and rinderpest

MODULAR TRAINING FOR INDUSTRY PROGRAMME

Title of Programme:
Principles and applications of ELISA for disease diagnosis

Date: September/October 2000

Aims and objectives:
There are three main aims for this module:
1. Provide an in-depth understanding of the principles and applications of ELISA.
2. Provide a detailed insight into the development, validation and standardization of diagnostic assays. This will allow critical evaluation of commercially produced kits and greater ability to "troubleshoot" when and if problems arise.
3. Provide a full understanding of the relative merits of various assay systems which should assist in the development of appropriate immunoassays for both research and commercial applications.

Content, Structure and Delivery of Module:
The Module will run for 4 weeks and will be composed of a mixture of the following lectures, demonstrations and practical exercises. Individual lectures will be interspersed between the various stages of the practical exercises. The module will be run once in 1999 but subject to demand may be increased to twice in later years. Complimentary modules on molecular techniques such as PCR and nucleotide sequencing may be developed in the near future.