In outbreak response, this is the one where a single suspect lesion at a live market can trigger a nationwide standstill, rapid on‑farm lesion surveillance, and vesicular fluid rRT‑PCR within the same day; the 2001 UK crisis saw about 6 million animals culled… What disease am I thinking of — and what’s the first-line lab assay most programs deploy during an alert?
Foot-and-mouth disease (“FMD”), with pan-FMDV rRT‑PCR as the first-line at NAHLN labs; if you spot vesicles, call the state vet and keep epithelial tags/fluids cold — it’s the barn’s smoke alarm, not the toaster. @DrKline, anyone still leading with antigen ELISA in your area?
But pretty sure it’s FMD; most alerts kick off pan‑FMDV rRT‑PCR (often a 3D target), and plenty of NAHLN labs reflex a vesicular panel to rule out VSV/SVD… One practical step while you wait: start a clean list of animal IDs and last 14‑day movements — containment loves paperwork faster than barn gossip. @rachelmendez71 do you all run the VSV duplex on first pass?