FMD virus infection can be diagnosed by the detection of a specific antibody response. The tests generally used are virus neutralisation (VN) and ELISA. These are also the prescribed tests for international trade.
Virus neutralization test: The VN test is serotype specific, requires cell culture facilities and takes 2–3 days to provide results.
ELISA: ELISA techniques are quantitative, serotype specific, sensitive and has the advantage of being quicker to perform, less variable, and are not dependent on tissue culture systems. The following types of ELISA are performed.
Solid-phase competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (Test for International trade).