Presence and persistence of foot-and-mouth disease virus in bovine skin.

Gailiunas, Peter (Plum Island Animal Disease Laboratory, Greenport, N. Y.), and George E. Cottral. Presence and persistence of foot-and-mouth disease virus in bovine skin. J. Bacteriol. 91:2333-2338. 1966.-This study established that the seven known antigenic types of foot-and-mouth disease virus (FMDV) have consistent affinity to all areas of bovine skin, even though gross cutaneous lesions usually are found only in the pedal area. Considerable amounts of FMDV were present in skin of 13 different body areas, irrespective of the presence of hair. All skin specimens from the trunk of 50 experimentally infected steers, necropsied from 12 hr to 7 days postinoculation (DPI), contained FMDV in the dermal and epidermal tissues. In skins of some steers, FMDV persisted for as long as 5 days after cessation of viremia. The highest average virus titer, 10(3.6) plaque-forming units (PFU) per g of skin, was found at 2 DPI. Some areas of the trunk and extremities had titers of approximately 10(5.0) PFU per g of skin. Characteristic gross lesions were not observed in sampling areas. The present observations have epizootiological importance for hides offered in international trade, because FMDV localized intracutaneously is more difficult to inactivate than virus adhering to hide surfaces.