Persistent infections of Foot-and-mouth disease virus in livestock

Foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) is a severe and highly contagious viral illness that affects livestock and wildlife. There is wide antigenic variation that makes difficult to control the disease.Besides acute disease, FMDV is also able to cause persistent infections in ruminants yet the mechanisms of FMDV persistence are not fully understood. It is critical to study the epidemiological importance of persistence on transmission and maintenance of disease in naturally occurring infections.