One-run real time PCR assays for the detection of capripoxviruses, field isolates and vaccine strains of lumpy skin disease virus

The cattle and sheep industry is economically important for sustainable growth. However, the increasing demand for livestock products drives animal population growth and risks for infection diseases. Lumpy skin disease (LSD) has recently expanded its historical range northward reaching countries that were never affected before. Prior to 2015 the territory of the Russian Federation was free of lumpy skin disease, whereas by 2017 Turkey, Serbia, Greece, Azerbaijan have reported incursions of this virus. Not only lumpy skin disease but also sheep pox has increased in incidence. Given this scenario, timely detection of these pathogens is key towards successful control and eradication. Moreover, diagnostic tools should detect both LSDV genome in the face of the use of live vaccine LSD virus strains and distinguish between the two. In this paper we report the development of a set of one-run real-time PCR assays to detect and differentiate between Capripoxvirus genome, field and vaccine LSD virus genomes...