Current Status and Potential of Foot-and-Mouth Disease Vaccines

Abstract

Knowledge of the structure of the virus at the molecular level has provided us with the opportunity to identify those regions of the particle which elicit a protective immune response. These regions can be synthesized chemically or biochemically, thus avoiding the use of the infectious virus particle and consequently any chance of causing infection. Moreover, an understanding of the structural basis for antigenic variation is being reached which should enable us to design more efficient vaccines.