A study of antigenic variants of foot and mouth disease virus type A in India between 1977 and 1985.

The structural polypeptides of thirty-three field isolates of foot and mouth disease virus (FMDV) collected in India between 1977 and 1985 were analysed by SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. They were placed in eleven groups based on their patterns and compared with results of conventional serological (virus neutralisation and complement fixation) tests. Variation occurred in the structural proteins of the viruses isolated between 1977 and 1981; however, the polypeptide patterns of viruses isolated in 1984 and 1985 were identical.