title: The duration of the foot-and-mouth disease virus carrier state in African buffalo (i) in the individual animal and (ii) in a free-living herd.
abstract: The maintenance of a virus depends on a number of factors, including the duration of infectivity and the size of the available host population. In this work, foot-and-mouth disease virus was shown to persist in individual African buffalo (Syncerus caffer) for up to at least five years; thus, the duration of infectivity is more than adequate to cover the normal periods between calving peaks. In a small isolated free-living population which varied from 30 to 100 buffalo, two immunological types of foot-and-mouth disease virus were maintained for at least 24 years and through several generations.
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000866:Antelopes; D000914:Antibodies, Viral / Q000032:analysis; D005537:Aphthovirus / Q000276:immunology / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D002020:Buffaloes / Q000382:microbiology*; D002353:Carrier State / Q000276:immunology / Q000382:microbiology / Q000662:veterinary*; D005536:Foot-and-Mouth Disease / Q000276:immunology / Q000382:microbiology*; D013997:Time Factors; D015030:Zimbabwe
chemical_list: D000914:Antibodies, Viral