Foot-and-mouth disease virus O/ME-SA/SA-2018: A new emerging threat posed by viruses circulating in Asia?

In 2018, a novel lineage of foot-and-mouth disease virus (FMDV) termed O/ME-SA/SA-2018 was identified in India, which subsequently spread into neighbouring countries (Nepal, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka). Since then, incursions of this lineage have occurred in the Middle East, beyond its usual epidemiological distribution. Using sequence data derived from field cases, this paper reconstructs the evolutionary history of the O/ME-SA/SA-2018 lineage, presents vaccine matching data for six commercially available FMD vaccines, and describes a novel lineage-specific RT-PCR assay which can be used to help detect field cases due this emerging lineage. Further surveillance studies are warranted to understand the distribution of this virus in Asian countries.