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Development of improved foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) assays with a focus on small ruminants in southern Africa

Thesis (PhD (Production Animal Studies))--University of Pretoria, 2024.

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Other Authors: Fosgate, Geoffrey Theodore
Format: Thesis
Language:English
Published: University of Pretoria 2025
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access_status_str Open Access
author2 Fosgate, Geoffrey Theodore
author_browse Fosgate, Geoffrey Theodore
author_facet Fosgate, Geoffrey Theodore
collection Thesis
dc_rights_str_mv © 2023 University of Pretoria. All rights reserved. The copyright in this work vests in the University of Pretoria. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the University of Pretoria.
description Thesis (PhD (Production Animal Studies))--University of Pretoria, 2024.
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institution University of Pretoria (South Africa)
language English
last_indexed 2026-06-10T12:39:41.715Z
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provenance_str_mv Harvested via OAI-PMH from UPSpace — University of Pretoria Institutional Repository
publishDate 2025
publishDateRange 2025
publishDateSort 2025
publisher University of Pretoria
publisherStr University of Pretoria
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source_str UPSpace — University of Pretoria Institutional Repository
spelling oai:repository.up.ac.za:2263/100767 Development of improved foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) assays with a focus on small ruminants in southern Africa Fosgate, Geoffrey Theodore latoyaseoke@gmail.com Heath, Livio Opperman, Pamela A. Seoke, La-Toya UCTD Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) RT-LAMP Small ruminants Foot-and-mouth disease Molecular evolution Thesis (PhD (Production Animal Studies))--University of Pretoria, 2024. As an economically important livestock disease, foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) requires adequate strategies for its control. In southern Africa, FMD is endemic and threatens the livelihood of smallholder farmers who rear goats, sheep and cattle for subsistence. However, goats and sheep (small ruminants) are largely ignored in routine surveillance and vaccination campaigns in endemic areas. Furthermore, due to the occurrence of subclinical infection, they pose the risk of facilitating the silent spread of the disease to other livestock animals. To improve the effectiveness of FMD control, established diagnostic assays should be validated/verified for use in small ruminant species in addition to the development of rapid and accurate next-generation assays. The aim of this study was to improve FMD diagnostic tests used on small ruminants and to investigate the molecular evolution of Foot-and-Mouth-Disease Virus (FMDV) in sub-Saharan Africa as a first step to future development of advanced diagnostic tools tailored to the region. The first study optimized and verified a single-spot solid-phase competitive ELISA (ss-SPCE) for the detection of antibodies against FMDV Southern African Territories (SAT) serotypes in goats and sheep sera collected from South Africa. The second study developed and preliminarily validated a field-deployable reverse-transcription loop-mediated isothermal amplification (RT-LAMP) assay for the detection of FMDV serotype SAT1 topotype II viruses. The third study explored the molecular evolution of FMDV SAT serotypes from sub-Saharan African isolates sampled between 1934 and 2022. The optimized ss-SPCE assay successfully measured the prevalence of disease in small ruminants during an active SAT2 outbreak in South Africa. The developed RT-LAMP test was highly specific and proved to be a propitious next-generation assay for the diagnosis of SAT serotypes in southern Africa. The molecular evolution findings indicated that the SAT serotypes continue to evolve as seen with the continuous discovery of new topotypes across the continent over the years. With continued disease surveillance and outbreak investigations, the data will be beneficial to the development of tailored diagnostic tools for the region. University of Pretoria Doctoral Support Program Agricultural Research Council of South Africa (Transboundary Animal Diseases Program) Red Meat Research and Development of South Africa (RMRD SA) Production Animal Studies PhD (Production Animal Studies) Unrestricted Faculty of Veterinary Science SDG-02: Zero hunger 2025-02-12T09:49:01Z 2025-02-12T09:49:01Z 2025-05 2024-07 Thesis * A2025 http://hdl.handle.net/2263/100767 https://doi.org/10.25403/UPresearchdata.28395068 en © 2023 University of Pretoria. All rights reserved. The copyright in this work vests in the University of Pretoria. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the University of Pretoria. application/pdf University of Pretoria
spellingShingle UCTD
Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
RT-LAMP
Small ruminants
Foot-and-mouth disease
Molecular evolution
Development of improved foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) assays with a focus on small ruminants in southern Africa
title Development of improved foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) assays with a focus on small ruminants in southern Africa
title_full Development of improved foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) assays with a focus on small ruminants in southern Africa
title_fullStr Development of improved foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) assays with a focus on small ruminants in southern Africa
title_full_unstemmed Development of improved foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) assays with a focus on small ruminants in southern Africa
title_short Development of improved foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) assays with a focus on small ruminants in southern Africa
title_sort development of improved foot and mouth disease fmd assays with a focus on small ruminants in southern africa
topic UCTD
Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
RT-LAMP
Small ruminants
Foot-and-mouth disease
Molecular evolution
url http://hdl.handle.net/2263/100767
https://doi.org/10.25403/UPresearchdata.28395068