Further, in case of FMD, vaccination is considered to be one of the control steps, movement control of livestock and livestock products and implementation of zoo-sanitary steps are required in addition to mass vaccination under FMD-CP. 4.5 to 59?% of animals carrying antibody levels deemed to be protective was observed against all the three serotypes. The TY-52156 findings of this study could be useful for further strategizing to strengthen the ongoing FMD-CP in Karnataka State, India. =?(non significant Table?3 District level seroprevalence (% positive with 95?% CI) of FMD in Karnataka as assessed by NSP (3AB)ELISA phase. represent 95?% CI, but are almost invisible since the highest TY-52156 difference is usually 2.09 (Asia-1, upper CI, Ph-III post) Table?4 Vaccination coverage and FMD outbreaks reported and confirmed in Karnataka state thead th align=”left” rowspan=”2″ colspan=”1″ 12 months/time /th th align=”left” rowspan=”2″ colspan=”1″ Vaccination coverage (%) /th th align=”left” rowspan=”2″ colspan=”1″ No. of districts reporting TY-52156 outbreaks /th th align=”left” rowspan=”2″ colspan=”1″ No. of districts with confirmed outbreaks /th th align=”left” rowspan=”2″ colspan=”1″ Total no. of reported outbreaks state-wide /th th align=”left” rowspan=”2″ colspan=”1″ Suspected outbreaks investigated/clinical samples received /th th align=”left” rowspan=”2″ colspan=”1″ Confirmed outbreaks /th th align=”left” colspan=”3″ rowspan=”1″ Computer virus serotype /th th align=”left” rowspan=”1″ colspan=”1″ O /th th align=”left” rowspan=”1″ colspan=”1″ A /th th align=”left” rowspan=”1″ colspan=”1″ Asia-1 /th /thead 2008C2009452210190292423102009C201043218187292222002010C201138171116936363006Sept 2011 (Phase I)58121015258514308Feb 2012 (Phase II)82Sept 2012 (Phase III)73141211654452979Feb 2013 (Phase IV)80 Open in a separate window Discussion This is the first serological study providing information around the status of FMD in Karnataka state, India. The results of the study demonstrate that FMD is usually endemic in the state, with all the 30 revenue districts showing seroprevalence as evidenced by NSP ELISA. There has been a significant decrease in prevalence of anti-NSP antibodies from your years 2011 to 2013 and progressive increase in antibodies to structural proteins in the years subsequent to the introduction of the systematic vaccination under FMD-CP since 2011. Comparable observations have been made in Haryana state, where seroprevalence reduced from 31?% before the start of FMD-CP to 18?% before start of the fourth phase [17] and further reduced to 12?% at the start of the eighth phase of vaccination [2] (www.pdfmd.ernet.in). The samples collected for the current serosurveillance study were from a time before the systematic vaccination was applied under FMD-CP and between two phases of vaccination. It was observed that seroprevalence varied between some districts. It should be noted that this sampling was random each year, and animals were not marked for re-sampling. Given that there is no restriction on movement of animals and that both vaccinated and infected animals would be mingling, a decrease or increase in neighbouring districts can be expected. For example, significant movement of animals occurs between Gulbarga district and its bordering state of Maharashtra, whereas large-scale buying and selling of animals takes place in the high yielding belt of Kolar district. Hence, it is not amazing that few districts may have higher prevalence of anti-NSP antibodies compared to others. Large numbers of outbreaks were reported from your dry zones and transition zones where the majority of the susceptible livestock population is located [16]. Before the implementation of vaccination programme, seroprevalence in these zones was more than 50?% which subsequently reduced to less than 25? % at the end Tagln of IV th phase of vaccination. We have previously reported that although FMD is usually prevalent in all the 30 revenue districts representing all the ten agro-climatic zones, it is not uniformly distributed. On an average, outbreaks were recorded in 21 districts every year, of which only 10.8 outbreaks were confirmed [16]. Not all the clinically reported outbreaks could be confirmed in the present study as well. A multitude of reasons at each step starting from farmers ignorance TY-52156 to improper transport of the sample contribute to the low confirmatory diagnosis. Importantly, the present study confirmed seroprevalence despite recognized records of no outbreaks in TY-52156 some villages, reaffirming underreporting as a major drawback of the passive surveillance system [11, 20, 23]. Prior to 2011, there was no control of FMD by systematic vaccination programme. Hence the sampling was not aimed at collecting from 0.5 to 1 1.5?12 months cattle and buffalo which represent the population that is susceptible. It would probably be advantageous.