An experimental infection in pigs using a foot-and-mouth disease virus isolated from the 2010 epidemic in Japan.

In this study, we carried out an experimental infection in pigs using a foot-and-mouth disease virus isolated from the 2010 epidemic in Japan to analyze the clinical manifestation, antibody response and virus shedding patterns in pigs. We found that the virus was virulent in pigs, producing a synchronous disease in the inoculated pigs and efficient spread to direct contact pigs. These results are useful for epidemiologically investigating the 2010 epidemic in Japan and improving the measures for controlling possible future FMD outbreaks in Japan or elsewhere.