News

Bovine and small ruminant infections caused by capripoxviruses (lumpy skin disease, sheep and goat pox) inflict significant economic damage to agriculture. According to the OIE classification, those diseases are transboundary animal diseases able to cause epizooties and subject to mandatory notification.

Recent years saw the dramatic increase in disease cases caused by capripoxviruses both in Russia and other countries. Their expanded distribution area calls for highly-sensitive diagnostic tools which are key to prevent and fight those infections. Besides, established cases of cattle infected with vaccine-like isolates of LSD virus require a special control from specialists of regional State veterinary services.

To ensure objective laboratory surveillance of those highly dangerous animal diseases, staff members of the FGBI “Federal Centre for Animal Health” subordinate to the Rosselkhoznadzor developed a PCR test-system complex to detect a genome of capripoxviruses (“CAPRIPOX”) and carry out screening laboratory research for all strains and isolates of LSD agent (“Lumpy skin disease RT PCR screening test”) as well as to conduct differential diagnosis of field isolates and vaccine strains of LSD virus (“Lumpy skin disease RT PCR”, “Lumpy skin disease RT PCR vac”).

All test-systems are validated with the use of field and reference samples of different geographical origin. Their efficiency, sensitivity and specificity are confirmed by international consistency tests (Sciensano, Belgium).

FGBI “ARRIAH” Press Office