Epithelium from an unruptured or recently ruptured vesicle
is the material of choice for FMD diagnosis.
A piece about the size of a postage stamp (2×2 cm) should
be submitted.
Vesicular fluid may be withdrawn using a syringe.
Material should be collected using sterile intruments.
The instruments and the epithelium to be sampled must
not come into contact with disinfectant as this will rapidly inactivate
any virus which might be present.
The transport medium should be a 50:50 mixture of phosphate-buffered
saline and glycerol at pH 7.4. FMD virus is extremely pH labile and
is rapidly inactivated outside the range pH 7.2 - 7.6. The sample
should be stored as close to 4°C as possible, without freezing, before
submission to the laboratory.
It is advisable to administer a sedative to facilitate
sample collection and provide analgesia.
