Division 1.4 Antibody detection (structural proteins)

The standards for the detection of antibody to foot-and-mouth disease virus shall be established in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 89(2) after consultation of the Community Reference Laboratory.

Standardised antisera for foot-and-mouth disease virus types O1-Manisa, A22-Iraq and C-Noville have been defined by the ‘FAO Phase XV Standardisation Exercise in foot-and-mouth disease antibody detection’ in 1998.

The Commission may arrange that standardised reference sera for all the main antigenic variants of foot-and-mouth disease virus are adopted as a result of standardisation exercises between the Community Reference Laboratory and the National Laboratories. These reference sera will be adopted as the standards for use by National Laboratories within the Community.